Twelve ships left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Monday, despite Russia’s withdrawal from the UN-brokered grain deal over the weekend, a Ukrainian official said.
Oleksandr Kubrakov, the country’s infrastructure minister, said the UN and Turkey would inspect the ships – a process taking place near the Turkish city of Istanbul. Moscow had been informed, he added.
“Today 12 (ships) left the (Ukrainian) ports. The @UN and (Turkish) delegations are providing 10 inspection teams to inspect 40 (ships) aiming to fulfill the #BlackSeaGrainInitiative. This inspection plan has been accepted by the (Ukrainian) delegation”, Kubrakov tweeted.
One of the ships that sailed on Monday was loaded with 40,000 tonnes of grain, destined for Ethiopia, he added.
The minister said four ships were also on their way to Ukraine after being inspected in the Bosphorus Strait on Sunday by a team including representatives from the UN, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia.
Its update follows an announcement by the UN Sunday that 12 ships would leave Ukraine through the maritime corridor on 31 October.
The Kremlin announced on Saturday that it would end its participation in the grain export deal with Kyiv after drone attacks on the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
Russia’s decision to withdraw from the deal has raised concerns among Western officials, after the World Food Program estimated that tens of millions of people entered a phase of acute famine as a result of the war in Ukraine.
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