Two more grain shipments leave Ukraine under deal with Russia

Two more cargo ships carrying grain left Ukraine Tuesday, Kyiv said, under a deal with Russia to ease agricultural exports from Ukrainian ports that had been blocked by the war.

"Two ships left the port of Chornomorsk carrying a total of 70,000 tons of agricultural products," the infrastructure ministry said in a statement on social media.

It said that one of the ships, the Rahmi Yaggi, was bound for Turkey with 5,300 tons of products, while the Ocean Lion was carrying some 65,000 tons of corn to South Korea.

With the departures reported Tuesday, a total of 12 ships have left three different Ukrainian Black Sea ports under the deal brokered in late July by the UN and Turkey.

Exports from Ukraine -- one of the world's biggest grain producers -- had been halted by a Russian naval blockade and Ukrainian mining of the ports.

The halt saw grain prices soar and fears rise of global food shortages, particularly in poor countries already experiencing shortfalls.

The first ship to depart from Ukraine -- the Razoni -- was due to dock in Lebanon Sunday. But the Ukrainian embassy there said the buyer had refused delivery, citing a five-month delay in the arrival of the consignment.

The MarineTraffic analytics website showed the Razoni off the coast of Turkey at 1100 GMT Tuesday.

Kyiv said earlier this week it hoped that between three and five ships would soon be able to depart daily from its ports.