Ankara (Turkey)- Turkey’s defence ministry says the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain will set off from the port of Odesa on Monday.
The ministry says the Leone-flagged cargo ship, Razon, loaded with corn, will depart Odesa for Lebanon at 0530 GMT.
The ministry 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 stuck in Black Sea ports because of Russia’s invasion.
The deals also allow Russia to export grain and fertilizers.
Ukraine and Russia signed agreements with Turkey and the United Nations on July 22 to free up three of Ukraine’s ports — Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne — which had been blockaded since Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine in late February.
The deal cleared the way for millions of tons of grain and fertilizer to be shipped as much of the world teeters on the brink of a major food crisis.
On July 31, a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there was a “high possibility” that the first grain-exporting ship would leave Ukraine on August 1.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that Ukraine is ready to start shipping millions of tons of grain sitting at its southern ports and is waiting for Turkey and the UN, which have agreed to oversee the shipments, to start the operation.
Oleksiy Vadaturskiy, 74, founder and owner of agriculture company Nibulon, and his wife were killed when a missile hit their home, Mykolayiv Governor Vitaliy Kim announced on Telegram.
Headquartered in Mykolayiv, a strategically important city that borders the Russia-occupied Kherson region, Nibulon specializes in producing and exporting wheat, barley, and corn. The company maintains its fleet and shipyard.