A grain vessel neared Ukraine to pick up wheat for Ethiopians on Friday, the first food delivery to Africa under a United Nations plan to unblock grain stuck by Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine which is in its sixth month has resulted in grain costs skyrocketing, leaving poorer nations in Africa with the lesser prospect of receiving supplies from Europe’s breadbasket but the European Council President Charles Michel indicated on Friday that the first World Food Program for Africa was about to set sail.
The ship currently in Ukraine loading grains would load in the Ukrainian black sea port and will be departing for Ethiopia. The Brave Commander would transport about 23,000 metric tonnes (27,500 short tonnes) of grain to Ethiopia.
Analysts believe that the release of docking space caused by the black sea port’s export of grains may benefit ships that had been waiting in port for extended periods of time.
Whilst the grain shipment represents some level of excitement, it was tempered by the ongoing bloodshed in eastern Ukraine, where the war has entered its 170th day. Kramatorsk, a town in Donbas, was attacked by 11 missiles overnight. Seven people were murdered and 14 others were injured in the region, which is still without gas, running water, or power.
“Three-quarters of the region’s population has already been evacuated, because of the Russian army’s constant bombardment which doesn’t give residents any option but to flee.
To make matters worse, the world has lately been concerned about the potential of a nuclear accident in eastern Ukraine, where shelling has pounding in the area where Europe’s largest nuclear facility is situated.
Late Thursday, the United Nations nuclear chief warned that “extremely frightening” military action near the nuclear facility might have disastrous repercussions.
Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged Russia and Ukraine, which blame each other for the plant attacks, to immediately allow nuclear experts to assess the damage and evaluate safety and security at the sprawling nuclear complex, where the situation “has been deteriorating very rapidly.”
He cited shelling and three explosions last Friday in Zaporizhzhia, which triggered the closure of the electrical power transformer and two backup transformers, resulting in the shutdown of one nuclear reactor.