ISTANBUL — The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain since Russia’s invasion in February arrived for inspection Tuesday night at the entrance of Istanbul’s Bosporus Strait.
Black Sea
The Razoni cargo ship, which left the port of Odessa on Monday carrying 26,000 tons of corn destined for Lebanon, was anchored at the Black Sea entrance of the Bosporus, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations are set to board and inspect the ship Wednesday morning. Once cleared, it can sail through to the Mediterranean and onward to Lebanon.
More than 20 million tons of grain from last year’s harvest are still awaiting export, according data from Ukraine. The food is urgently needed on the world market – especially in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The U.N. recently warned of the biggest famine in decades.
Under the July 22 deal to lift Russia’s monthslong blockade of the ports, Ukraine pledged to guide the ships through waters that have been mined and Russia promised to not target the ships and certain port infrastructure.
The deal’s brokers – the United Nations and Turkey – said they will help safely coordinate the exports and monitor the shipments in order to make sure the vessels are not smuggling weapons into the war zone.
A joint coordination center was opened in Istanbul and staffed by the four parties.
But even as the Razoni’s passage was making progress, Moscow was warning that further shipments would be in jeopardy if the West did not accede to “the second part” of the agreement.
Russia expects its grain, food and fertilizer exports to also be permitted to resume in full, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Even though such agricultural products have not been sanctioned, Moscow says it is struggling to export the goods due to difficulties with shipping companies, among other issues.
Russian troops
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military campaign to take full control of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine is proceeding to plan.
“After taking over control of the territory of the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Donetsk People’s Republic will be liberated according to plan,” Shoigu said, using the names Russia uses for the regions, which are not internationally recognized as independent republics.
Shoigu listed six locations in Donetsk that Russian troops have seized over recent days, the Interfax news agency reported.
In Donetsk, fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops continued around the town of Bachmut on Tuesday.
Russian advances were also made in the direction of Soledar, about 5 miles to the north, the Ukrainian general staff said.
Russian attacks at several locations south of Bachmut, on the other hand, were largely repelled, it said.
The information could not be independently verified.
The general staff also reported a Russian attack in the north of the Kherson region on the border with the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region.
For weeks, Kyiv has been nurturing hopes of launching a counter-offensive in Kherson to recapture the south.
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Source: Postguam
