KYIV: Kyiv said a civilian cargo vessel had exited its southern port of Odesa on Wednesday despite warnings from Russia that its navy could target ships using Ukraine's Black Sea export hubs.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the development."Ukraine has just made an important step toward restoring the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea," he said on social media.Hundreds of lorry drivers were waiting to take grain to the Danube river port of Izmail. Since Russia's exit from the accord in July, it has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea port infrastructure and facilities Kyiv uses to export grain through the Danube river.
"I strongly condemn the continued attacks on innocent people, civilian infrastructure, including grain silos in the ports of Reni and Izmail," Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu said. "Our defenders are entrenched at the outskirts. The offensive continues," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said on social media.
Russian attacks in the last 24 hours killed four people and wounded seven, its governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Wednesday.