LIVE Tracker: First Ukraine grain ship since start of war leaves Odesa amid Russian invasion

A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for foreign markets on Monday (August 1) under a safe passage agreement, a Ukrainian minister said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago. The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain-and-fertilizer export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month. “The first grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul,“ Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter. The Turkish defense minister said earlier that the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which is loaded with corn, will head to Lebanon. More ships will follow, it said. Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat exports. But Western sanctions on Russia and fighting along Ukraine’s eastern seaboard have