Four new Ukrainian cargo ships leave port Focus on whether exports will resume

Four new cargo ships carrying agricultural products have set sail from southern Ukraine ports following an agreement brokered by Turkey and the United Nations.

The focus is on whether the movement to resume exports will accelerate as concerns about the global food crisis continue.

In Ukraine, the export of agricultural products from the southern port facing the Black Sea was delayed due to the blockade by the Russian military, but last month Turkey and the United Nations brokered an agreement to resume exports.

In response to this, on the 1st and 5th of this month, a total of four ships loaded with grain departed from a southern port, but on the 7th, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that four ships carrying corn, sunflower oil, etc. The ship also departed a new port and announced that it would head to China, Italy and other countries.

Ukraine's infrastructure ministry said on Thursday that cargo ships had entered Ukrainian ports for the first time since the Russian invasion.

"We can say that the 'grain corridor' can now be used for both entering and exiting the port," Infrastructure Minister Kubrakov said.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown a willingness to cooperate in continuing exports from Ukraine, he has warned against Western sanctions, saying that it is necessary to ensure that exports of Russian grains and fertilizers are not hindered. The focus is on whether the movement to resume exports will accelerate amid concerns about a global food crisis.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian nuclear power company Energoatom announced that Russian forces attacked the area around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the southeastern part of the country on the 6th, and shelled near the spent nuclear fuel storage facility.

Energoatom once again called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, stating, "We have miraculously escaped a nuclear catastrophe, but miracles cannot last forever."

Russia denies this, claiming that the Ukrainian side has attacked the nuclear power plant again.

The U.S. think tank War Research Institute said, “The Russian military appears to be using nuclear power plants to take advantage of fears of a nuclear disaster in order to discourage Western countries from providing military assistance to Ukraine. They are also using nuclear power plants as a 'nuclear shield' to protect them."