Russia starts shipments of grain from Ukraine

Russia has begun shipping grain from the territory its forces are occupying in Ukraine.

A vessel carrying 7,000 tons of cereal has left the port city of Berdyansk to go to “friendly countries”, a pro-Russian regional official says, reports BBC.

Kyiv, for weeks, has accused Russia of stealing its grain from southern Ukraine - something Moscow has denied - and blocking ports, contributing to global food shortages.

“After numerous months of delay, the first merchant ship has left the Berdyansk commercial port, 7,000 tons of grain are heading toward friendly countries,” Evgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration, said on Telegram.

Russia’s Black Sea ships are ensuring the security of the journey, he said, adding that the Ukrainian port had been demined, The Moscow Times reported.

Balitsky did not specify the final destination of the cargo. Berdyansk is a port city on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, in the region of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine. The southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been largely under Russia’s control since the first weeks of Moscow’s military intervention, and are now being forcefully integrated into Russia’s economy.

The pro-Moscow officials in the two Ukrainian regions claim that they have “nationalized” state infrastructure and property there and buy their crops from local farmers.

A representative of the pro-Moscow authorities, Vladimir Rogov, told state news agency RIA Novosti that 1.5 million tons of grain can be exported via Berdyansk.

Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine, a country known as Europe’s breadbasket, has pushed up food prices and led to shortages, as Russia’s blockade of Black Sea ports prevents millions of tons of grain from being shipped out.