KYIV, Ukraine, Aug 1, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The first shipment of Ukrainian grain 
since the Russian invasion in February left the port of Odessa on Monday 
morning under a landmark deal to lift Moscow's naval blockade in the Black 
Sea. 

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, who brokered the plan along with 
Turkey, welcomed the announcement while Kyiv said it would bring "relief for 
the world" if Moscow held up its side of the accord.

The five-month halt of deliveries from war-torn Ukraine -- one of the world's 
biggest grain exporters -- has contributed to soaring food prices, hitting 
the world's poorest nations especially hard.

Officials said the Razoni cargo ship, registered in Sierra Leone, was making 
its way through a specially cleared corridor in the mine-infested waters of 
the Black Sea with 26,000 tonnes of maize on board. 

"It is expected in Istanbul on August 2. It will then continue its journey 
after it has been inspected in Istanbul," the Turkish foreign minister said 
in a statement.

Other convoys would follow, respecting the maritime corridor and the agreed 
formalities, the statement said.

Last month, Ukraine and Russia signed the breakthrough pact -- the first 
signficant accord involving the warring sides since the invasion -- with 
Turkey and the United Nations aimed at getting millions of tonnes of trapped 
Ukrainian grain to world markets.

But Russian strikes on the Odessa port the day after the deal was signed 
sparked outrage from Ukraine's allies and cast doubt over the accord.

Guterres, according to a UN statement, "hopes that this will be the first of 
many commercial ships moving in accordance with the initiative signed, and 
that this will bring much-needed stability and relief to global food 
security, especially in the most fragile humanitarian contexts".

- Ships 'waiting to leave' -

"Ensuring that existing grain and foodstuffs can move to global markets is a 
humanitarian imperative," he added.

Guterres also said that the World Food Programme was planning to "purchase, 
load and ship an initial 30,000 metric tons of wheat out of Ukraine on a UN-
chartered vessel," and there would be further details in the coming days.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday marked a "day of relief 
for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia, and 
Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odessa after months of Russian 
blockade."

The Kremlin on Monday hailed it as a "very positive" development and a "good 
opportunity to test the effectiveness of the mechanisms that were agreed 
during talks in Istanbul". 

The long-awaited consignment however is just the beginning of a backlog and 
Ukraine Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said 16 more ships were 
already "waiting for their turn" to leave Odessa. 

"These are the ships that were blocked from the beginning of Russia's full-
scale invasion," he said, adding that new requests for ships to dock and load 
were coming continuously.

"We are planning to reach full efficiency at of shipments of agricultural 
products during the following weeks," he added.

The departure of the Razoni comes one day after Ukrainian agricultural 
magnate Oleksiy Vadatursky, 74, and his wife Raisa were killed when a missile 
struck their house in the battle-scarred city of Mykolaiv in the south.

Vadatursky owned major grain exporter Nibulon and was previously decorated 
with the prestigious "Hero of Ukraine" award.

Mykolaiv -- which has been attacked frequently -- is the closest Ukrainian 
city to the southern front where Kyiv's forces are looking to launch a major 
counter-offensive to recapture territory lost after Russia's February 
invasion.

The governor said Monday that three people had been injured in "massive" 
Russian shelling overnight that damaged homes and damaged humanitarian 
supplies.

Despite progress on the grain exports, there was also Russian shelling in the 
war-scarred east of the country, where Russian troops have been fighting 
deeper into the Donbas region.

The head of the industrial Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian 
shelling over the past 24 hours had killed three people.

The Razoni's departure came after Russian authorities in the Crimean Black 
Sea peninsula -- seized by Moscow from Ukraine in 2014 -- said a small 
explosive device from a commercial drone, likely launched nearby, hit the 
navy command in Sevastopol.

The local mayor blamed "Ukrainian nationalists" for the attack that forced 
the cancellation of festivities marking Russia's annual holiday celebrating 
the navy.

Ukraine's navy accused Russia of staging the attacks as a pretext to cancel 
the festivities.