The Black Sea fleet has also blockaded Ukraine’s ports since the start of the war, trapping vital grain exports, which are only now starting to move again under an agreement brokered by Turkey and the United Nations.
Another three ships left Ukraine on Wednesday, the infrastructure ministry said on its Facebook page.
“This morning, three ships with Ukrainian food products left the ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa … More than 33,000 tons of agricultural products are on board,” it said.
ATTACKS REPORTED IN KHARKIV
The war has caused millions to flee, killed thousands and deepened a geopolitical rift between the West and Russia, which says the aim of its operation is to demilitarise its neighbour and protect Russian-speaking communities.
Ukraine, which broke free of Moscow’s rule when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, accuses Russia of waging an imperial-style war of conquest.
The United States, Albania, France, Ireland, Norway and Britain have asked the UN Security Council to meet on Aug 24 to discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine, diplomats said, marking the six-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Meanwhile, Russia continued to press its campaign on the ground on multiple fronts – Kharkiv in the northeast; the Donbas in the east and southeast; and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in central and southern Ukraine.
“Russian shelling has in general greatly intensified,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhadanov said in an online video.
Russian bombardments in a residential area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, on Wednesday evening killed seven people and injured 16, the Ukrainian Emergencies Service said.
Kharkiv has come under repeated assault, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy deplored Wednesday’s attack on Telegram: “This is a devious and cynical strike on civilians with no justification.”
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