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Two commercial ships have docked at a Ukrainian port as Kyiv intensifies efforts to unilaterally break Russia’s blockade of its Black Sea coast.
The two ships arrived at Chornomorsk just hours before Russia launched a fresh series of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine. The southern Odesa region’s agricultural infrastructure was once again targeted.
As for Russia, it reported that Ukrainian drones conducted overnight strikes on Crimea, Moscow, and other regions on Sunday.
“The first civilian ships used the temporary corridor towards Ukrainian ports. . . to load nearly 20,000 tonnes of wheat destined for African and Asian countries,” stated Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister.
The bulk carriers, Resilient Africa and Aroyat, with Palau flags, have become the first vessels to reach Ukrainian ports since Russia withdrew from a UN-brokered agreement in July. This agreement had allowed the export of over 33 million tonnes of grain from Ukraine.
In an effort to assist stranded ships in Ukrainian ports due to Russia’s invasion, Kyiv established a corridor along the Black Sea coast with neighboring NATO members Romania and Bulgaria. Since the corridor’s opening, three ships transporting food and two carrying metallurgical products have left Ukrainian ports as Russia continues to ignore international pressure to rejoin the grain export agreement.
Currently, Ukraine predominantly exports its grain through land routes via trucks and railways to EU countries. However, these routes incur additional costs, negatively impacting Kyiv’s competitiveness. Ukraine also continues to ship grain from ports on the Danube River, which have been subjected to regular missile attacks from Russian forces.
Russia’s attempts to restrict grain and food supplies from Ukraine, a major exporter, have disrupted markets and increased prices for developing nations.
Equipped with NATO-grade air defense systems and longer-range missiles supplied by Western allies, Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russia’s Black Sea fleet based in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Recently, Ukraine destroyed a Russian navy vessel and damaged a submarine undergoing repairs in Sevastopol, the largest port on the peninsula.
Breaking the Black Sea blockade and supporting a military counteroffensive is crucial to officials in Kyiv, who see neutralizing Russia’s use of Crimea as a military staging area. Russia still occupies about 18% of Ukrainian territory in the south and east.
Despite the considerable risks faced by ships using Ukrainian Black Sea ports, Kyiv asserts that it can protect the shipping corridor by impairing Russia’s ability to patrol the northwestern corner of the sea.
Oleg Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region, reported that Russia’s strikes on Sunday damaged land and grain storage facilities in Berezivka, located 90km north of the provincial capital.
Targets in the Dnipropetrovsk region were also hit by the strikes, along with the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
Mykola Oleschuk, commander of Ukraine’s air force, shared a video on Telegram showing a Ukrainian air defense system intercepting an incoming missile near Odesa early on Sunday, with the explosion resembling a fireworks display.
“Our beloved city can sleep peacefully!” he wrote.
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