First grain ships arrive in Ukraine after Russia suffers losses in Black Sea

Two cargo ships have for the first time since the collapse of an export deal in July sailed across the Black Sea to Odesa through a corridor patrolled by the RAF to pick up grain for Africa.

The tankers completed their voyage on Saturday to Ukraine’s largest port, days after a major missile strike on the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said: “The ‘Resilient Africa’ and the ‘Aroyat’ confirmed their readiness to use the route to the Black Sea port to load almost 20,000 tonnes of wheat for African and Asian countries.”

The ships sailed under the flag of Palau, a Pacific Island nation, and had crews from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ukraine.

Mr Kubarov also confirmed that five other tankers stranded in Odesa since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year have already used the same corridor to escape into the Mediterranean Sea.

Downing Street said in September that RAF planes were patrolling the Black Sea, warning cargo ships of lurking Russian warships.

After the grain deal collapsed in July, the Kremlin said it would intercept ships sailing to Ukraine but it seems unable to impose this blockade.

Russian commandos boarded a tanker in August bound for the Danube Delta, where Ukraine has been diverting grain exports, but allowed the ship to continue its journey after checking its cargo.

Ukraine has slowly wrestled more control of the Black Sea from Russia.

It has recaptured the strategically important Snake Island and has developed seaborne drones that can strike Russian warships hundreds of miles from port.

Its missiles badly damaged a Russian submarine on Thursday for the first time when it hit a drydock in Sevastopol in occupied Ukraine.

Ukrainian grain is considered vital for Africa and South Asia and the United Nations has tried to renegotiate an export agreement but the Kremlin has said that it won’t agree to a deal until a pipeline that exports ammonia via Ukraine is reopened.

Ukraine has instead increased grain exports via the EU but this has triggered protests by farmers in central Europe who say cheap imports are undercutting their prices.