First ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves Black Sea port

The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set off from the Port of Odesa on Monday under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey — cargo ship Razoni left with more than 26,000 tons of corn destined for Lebanon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other United Nations (UN) leaders on Friday made an unannounced visit to a port on the Black Sea where grain waited to be shipped. Russia and Ukraine signed agreements July 24 to get 20 million tons of wheat and other grains out of Ukraine, as well as fertilizer and food from Russia—and they only have 120 days to do it. But hours after the countries finalized the deal, Russia bombed the port city of Odesa. 

How will they navigate the mine-infested waters? Martin Griffiths, a UN official, on Friday said a team of people was still finalizing safe routes out of the ports. The plan was to have smaller Ukrainian boats guide the ships along safe routes. The planning was overseen by officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the UN from a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, Turkey. UN agencies like the World Food Program have already arranged to charter much of the grain to help the countries most affected by the food shortage caused by trapped grain. 

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour on the food crisis in Afghanistan—one of the countries to which the UN will send grain.