Grain ships head for Ukraine’s Black Sea port defying Russia

Ukraine is defying Russia’s effective blockade of its Black Sea ports by sending empty ships to collect grain for the first time since the collapse of a deal guaranteeing safe passage almost two months ago.

Two ships “confirmed their readiness to use the route to the port of Chornomorsk to load almost 20,000 tons of wheat for Africa and Asia,” Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on social media. The ships carry the flags of Palau and crew members are from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ukraine.[Bloomberg ]