The ship Brave Commander has departed the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi with the first shipment of humanitarian food aid from Ukraine intended for Africa since Russia’s incursion.
Due to the shutdown of its Black Sea ports, Ukraine has experienced a decline in grain exports since the war began, which has increased food prices globally and raised concerns about a shortage in Africa and the Middle East.
Russia’s intervention in Ukraine is referred to as a “special military operation.”
A compromise between Moscow and Kyiv, mediated by the UN and Turkey, allowed for the delivery of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Ukrainian grain to customers last month after three Black Sea ports were freed.
According to Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry, the Brave Commander left for Djibouti carrying 23,000 tonnes of wheat for Ethiopian consumers.
In a statement, it was stated that “the ministry and the UN are working on measures to improve food supplies for the socially vulnerable sectors of the African population.”
According to Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine can export 3 million tonnes of grain from its ports in September and may be able to export 4 million tonnes per month in the future.
According to him, Ukraine has received requests for 30 ships to arrive in the country during the next two weeks in order to export grain, with a total export volume of roughly 600,000 tonnes.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, five ships—three from Chornomorsk and two from Pivdennyi—left Ukrainian ports on Tuesday carrying corn and wheat, bringing the total number of ships scheduled to depart under the agreement to 21.
The joint coordination center, established by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Nations in Istanbul, was scheduled to inspect four more ships on Tuesday that were headed for Ukraine.
The agriculture ministry reported last week that despite unblocked ports, Ukraine’s grain exports are down 46% year over year at 2.65 million tonnes so far in the 2022–23 season.
Grain exports from Ukraine fell from 1.88 million tonnes in the same period last year to 948,000 tonnes in the first half of August.
