Ukraine has now exported 1 million tonnes of agricultural products from its Black Sea ports under the terms of a grain deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
In an evening address on Friday, Mr Zelenskyy said 44 ships had been sent to 15 nations.
A further 70 applications for ships to be loaded had been received, he added, reiterating that Kyiv's goal was to export 3 million tonnes a month.
''Today we can draw our first conclusions concerning the rescue of many countries from a food crisis which Russia tried to aggravate to the level of real hunger," Mr Zelenskyy said.
"The grain initiative has been operational for a month now and for this period of time our three ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny have exported the first million of tons of agricultural products since February 24. It is a victory.''
In his address, Mr Zelenskyy also said the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine remained risky and reiterated demands that the International Atomic Energy Agency be allowed to visit the plant as soon as possible.
''Any actions by Russia which can trigger the disconnection of reactors will bring the station on the brink again,'' Zelenskyy warned.
Ukraine train system attacks may be war crimes
Russia’s attack on a Ukrainian train station that killed more than 20 people this week is the latest in a series of strikes on the country’s railway system that some international legal scholars say may be war crimes.
While Russia claimed that it had targeted the train because it was carrying Ukrainian troops and equipment on Wednesday, reporters on the ground said there was no visible indication that Ukrainian troops were among the dead, who included children.
If civilians were the target, experts said, the attack could be considered a war crime.
“A train station is generally a civilian object and should not be a target of attack,” said Jennifer Trahan, a clinical professor at New York University's Center for Global Affairs.
Wednesday’s attack in Chaplyne, a small village in south-eastern Ukraine, was one of the deadliest in months on the country’s extensive railway system.
In the more than six months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the AP and the PBS series “Frontline” have independently verified more than 40 attacks on civilian infrastructure that could be considered war crimes.
Three of those hit the country’s railway infrastructure and seven have involved local bus stops, killing more than 100 civilians.
In these attacks, there has been little evidence to back up Moscow’s claims that Ukrainian troops were the target.
The deadly strike Wednesday came as Ukrainians were defiantly celebrating their Independence Day while remaining on high alert because of threats that Russia would use the occasion to mount attacks.
ABC/wires
