First ship carrying 26,000 tonnes Ukrainian grain leaves port of Odesa

The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain has set off from the port of Odesa, Turkey's defense ministry said Monday.

The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship, Razoni left the port of Odesa for Lebanon, the ministry said.

A statement from the United Nations said the Razoni is carrying over 26,000 tonnes of corn.

The ship is expected to reach Istanbul on Tuesday, where it will be inspected, before being allowed to proceed to Lebanon, the ministry said.

Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements with Turkey and the U.N. clearing the way for Ukraine one of the world's key breadbaskets to export 22 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural goods that have been stuck in Black Sea ports because of Russia's invasion.

The deals also allow Russia to exports grain and fertilisers.

Turkey's defense ministry says the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain will set off from the port of Odesa on Monday.

The ministry says the Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship, Razoni, which has been loaded with corn, will depart Odesa for Lebanon.

The ministry statement said other ships would also depart Ukraine's ports through the safe corridors in line with deals signed in Istanbul on July 22, but did not provide further details.

Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements with Turkey and the U.N. clearing the way for Ukraine one of the world's key breadbaskets to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural goods that have been stuck in Black Sea ports because of Russia's invasion.

The deals also allow Russia to exports grain and fertilisers.
 

Russians lob rockets using nuke reactor as cover

Along most of the front line in Russia’s war in Ukraine, when one side lets loose with an artillery attack, the other shoots back.

But not in Nikopol, a city deep in southern farm country where the Ukrainian military faces a new and vexing obstacle as it prepares for a major counteroffensive: a nuclear power station that the Russian Army has turned into a fortress.

Nikopol, controlled by the Ukrainians, lies on the west bank of the Dnipro River. On the opposite bank sits a gigantic nuclear power plant — Europe’s largest — that the Russian Army captured in March. The Russians have been firing from the cover of the Zaporizhzhia station since mid-July, Ukrainian military and civilian officials said, sending rockets over the river at Nikopol and other targets. (NYT)