A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon on Monday under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago.
GRAIN/ENERGY
* The first ship to depart Odesa under a landmark grains deal will pass through the Bosphorus on Tuesday, carrying Ukrainian grain to Lebanon, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister said.
* News that his ship would be allowed to leave the Ukrainian port of Odesa carrying grain was the “best feeling” of the year, a joyful crew member said, adding he was worried about sea mines.
* Key arrangements including procedures for ships still need to be worked out before empty vessels can come in and pick up cargoes from Ukraine using the new grains corridor, a senior London marine insurance market official said.
* There is little Russia can do to help with urgent repairs required to malfunctioning Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline equipment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, following further falls in Gazprom production and exports.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said there could be no winners in a nuclear war and no such war should ever be started.
* Ukraine has received more German and U.S.-made multiple rocket launcher systems, part of a series of deliveries of the high-precision heavy weapons promised by its allies, its defence minister said.
* The Pentagon said it would provide Ukraine a new security assistance package valued at up to $550 million, including additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS)
* Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had destroyed two U.S.-made HIMARS in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, and a launch system for Harpoon anti-ship missiles in Odesa region, Interfax reported.Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia’s actions around Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant “the height of irresponsibility,” accusing Moscow of using it as a “nuclear shield” in attacks on Ukrainian forces.
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“Both sides at war will lose, even the victor of war will have lost because of the human and material losses,” said grain ship Razoni crew member Abdullah Jendi. “In my opinion, the people of Ukraine don’t deserve this because they are good and peaceful people.”
