Three ships filled with grain have left Ukrainian ports under a UN-backed agreement to resume exports of grain and other agricultural products through ports on the Black Sea, Turkey's Defense Ministry said on August 5.
The Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which groups Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel, said two ships were setting off from Chornomorsk and one from Odesa.
The three vessels carrying a total of about 58,000 tons of corn have been authorized to leave Ukrainian ports as part of a deal to unblock grain exports.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter the Panama-flagged Navistar, carrying 33,000 tons of corn and going from Ukraine to Ireland, departed from Odesat. The ship will be inspected by the Joint Coordination Center to the north of Istanbul.
The second ship, the Maltese-flagged Rojen, carrying 13,000 tons of corn, departed from the port of Chornomorsk bound for Britain. The Joint Inspection Team was monitoring it.
The Turkish-flagged ship Polarnet set off from Chornomorsk for the Turkish Black Sea port of Karasu. Once the ship -- carrying 12,000 tons of corn -- reaches Karasu, it will be inspected by the Joint Inspection Team to the north of Istanbul.
The Razoni, the first ship loaded with Ukrainian grain to set off from a Ukrainian port since the beginning of the Russian invasion, departed earlier this week.
Moscow and Kyiv agreed in a deal brokered last month by Turkey and the United Nations to resume shipments of wheat and other grain from three Ukrainian ports for the first time since Russia invaded in February.