Ship with grain to leave Odessa port on Friday: Source
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A source says that a ship with grain will leave the port of Odessa on Friday if there is no force majeure.
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The port of Odessa (Credits: Shutterstock)
A ship with grain will leave the port of Odessa on Friday if there is no force majeure, a source familiar with the situation told Sputnik.
"It is planned [that the ship leaves] today [on Friday] if there is no force majeure," the source said without specifying what force majeure can take place.
On July 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov signed a grain deal mediated by the United Nations in Istanbul.
The signing of the grain deal
The Ukrainian side will have control over the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny, from which grain exports will be organized, according to the agreements. Aside from that, no ships other than those exporting grain and related food products and fertilizers will be permitted to dock at these ports.
Odessa port allegedly under fire
On July 23, a day after the grain agreement was signed, the port of Odessa was targeted.
However, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Russian naval forces destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse of US-supplied Harpoon missiles in the port.
In a statement, the ministry said, "In the port of Odessa, on the territory of a ship repair plant, high-precision long-range sea-based missiles destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse of anti-ship Harpoon missiles delivered by the United States to Kiev."
Last month, the US announced a $1 billion defense package for Ukraine, which included Harpoon missile launchers, howitzers, and ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), according to Politico.
Russia says no obstacles to the export of grain
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that there are no impediments to the export of Grain from the Odessa port.
"Experts confirmed what we have been talking about from the very beginning, that the grain terminal of the Odessa port is located at a considerable distance from the military unit, there are no obstacles for grain to be delivered to customers, in accordance with the agreements signed in Istanbul and we did not create them," Lavrov told reporters during his visit to the Republic of the Congo.
