Ukraine has exported 13 million tons of products through a shipping
corridor in the Black Sea it established after Russia pulled out of a deal
guaranteeing safe movement of vessels.
Ports accepted 430 vessels for loading since the channel
was created in August, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister
OleksandrKubrakov said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter,
on Saturday 30 Dec.
Kyiv established the corridor to allow the shipping
of critical commodities, especially grains, from its deep-sea ports after
Moscow in July pulled out the United Nations-backed Black Sea grain deal that had guaranteed safe passage for crops.
Ukraine’s ability
to ship via the Black Sea comes as Russia has moved its Naval fleet there from
Crimea to Novorossiysk in response to repeated attacks on vessels – the most
recent coming on Dec. 26.
Supplies of British Storm Shadow and French
Scalp cruise missiles have helped Ukraine tip the balance in its favor,
Bloomberg reported last week, enabling it to evade air defenses to conduct
accurate strikes on Russian targets.
Russia’s fleet “is
no longer able to operate in the western part of the Black Sea,†Ukrainian
President VolodymyrZelenskiy said Oct. 24, calling it a “historic achievementâ€
for his country.