First shipment of grain leaves Ukrainian port
For the first time since the war in Ukraine began, a ship carrying grain left the port of Odesa on Monday thanks to a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
After docking in Istanbul on Tuesday for inspections, the cargo ship Razoni will carry more than 26,000 tons of corn to Lebanon – a first step toward easing a growing food crisis. Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil.
The deal allows the country to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural goods that have been stuck in Black Sea ports for months because of a Russian blockade. As part of the deal, Russia will be able to export grain and fertilizers.
Turkey’s defense ministry said more ships will leave Ukraine’s ports but did not provide further details.
HIMARS ‘a top hit of this summer,’ Ukrainian minister says
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov can’t be accused of relying on stilted military language as he accepted the latest set of advanced rocket launchers from the U.S.
In announcing the arrival of four additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Reznikov made the noise from the truck-mounted weapons sound positively musical.
“The sound of the #HIMARS volley has become a top hit of this summer at the front lines!” he tweeted Monday.
Ukrainian push to retake south makes Russia divert from Donbas
Russia may have to choose between its goal of fully controlling the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and retaining its gains in the south.
Ukrainian forces are trying to retake territory the Russians have seized, including the southern region of Kherson and part of the Zaporizhzhia region. That has prompted Moscow to reassign troops.
Russia has full command of Luhansk, one of two provinces that make up the Donbas, but controls only about half of the other one, Donetsk.
The British Defense Ministry said Monday Russian forces have made little progress northeast of Donetsk as of late.