Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday hailed the departure of a commercial cargo ship from the Black Sea port of Odessa as an “important step” for freedom of navigation off Ukraine.
The ship left the Ukrainian port via a new shipping corridor set up by Kyiv, despite Russian threats, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister announced on Wednesday.
“The container ship Joseph Schulte (…) has left the port of Odessa and is sailing along the temporary corridor established for civilian vessels,” Oleksandre Koubrakov was quoted as saying in a press release. This is the first cargo ship to leave the major port of Odessa, in southern Ukraine, since 16 July, the minister added.
Russia had threatened to use any ship sailing to or from Ukrainian ports as a potential military target following the expiry of a cereal agreement in July. In response, Kyiv threatened to do the same to any ships travelling to or from Ukrainian ports occupied by Moscow.
However, on 10 August, Ukraine announced that it had opened “temporary” corridors on the Black Sea – which is largely controlled by the Russian navy – to allow ships carrying its grain to pass through.
This announcement came a few weeks after the end, in mid-July, of an agreement that had allowed Ukrainian cereals to leave the country’s southern ports since summer 2022, despite a blockade put in place by Russia.
Since then, the number of attacks on the Black Sea has increased on both sides and the Russian army has struck Odessa, as well as the river ports of Izmaïl and Reni, on several occasions.
The attacks were denounced by Kyiv as a means of hindering its exports.
Russian drones have also hit and damaged grain warehouses in the Odessa region, the regional governor, Oleg Kiper, said on Wednesday.
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