A convoy under very high surveillance. This Monday, a Ukrainian grain farmer was able to get out of Odessa, a first since the signing of an international agreement aimed at maintaining agricultural exports. This is a "relief for the world" welcomed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba. The war continues elsewhere, in Donbass, a territory in the east of the country, where civilians have been asked to evacuate by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, a grain ship left the port of Odessa on Monday morning, loaded with 26,000 tons of corn. "The Razoni ship left the port of Odessa bound for the port of Tripoli in Lebanon. It is expected on August 2 in Istanbul. It will continue on its way to its destination following the inspections that will be carried out in Istanbul", added the Turkish Ministry of Defence. This departure was also greeted "warmly" by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
Other convoys should follow this first departure while respecting "the (maritime) corridor and the agreed formalities", according to the Turkish ministry. Signed on July 22 in Istanbul between representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, an agreement provides for the export of Ukrainian cereals and Russian agricultural fertilizer, subject to several checks in Istanbul, to avoid the import of weapons. The international community hopes that the parties will keep their commitment. These Russian and Ukrainian exports could partly alleviate the global food crisis.
The city of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, was the target of massive Russian bombardments, probably "the strongest" since the start of the war in February, which left two dead, authorities announced on Sunday.
A grain entrepreneur, ranked 24th richest Ukrainian in 2021 by Forbes magazine and whose company exported to 70 countries, was killed with his wife in the bombing of his home. Oleksiï Vadatoursky, 74, was the head of the main Ukrainian cereal logistics company Niboulon. "A deliberate murder", according to the Ukrainian presidency, which made the man a national hero.
Like these bombings, and according to British intelligence, Russia would reassign part of its forces to southern Ukraine. "As the Ukrainian authorities affirmed last week, Russia seems to be reallocating a significant number of its forces engaged in the Donbass towards the south of the country", thus affirmed the Intelligence, also advancing that Russia would intensify its fire on the Zaporijjia front, a region partly occupied by Russia, where arrests and wheat sales are carried out.
If the bombings are intensifying almost everywhere on Ukrainian territory, the main target remains the territories with a strong pro-independence presence in eastern Ukraine, where the remaining civilians are threatened by the bombings. This Saturday, the Ukrainian president called for the evacuation of Donetsk, where 200,000 civilians were still present.
