Inspection of 1st grain ship out of Ukraine starts in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, TURKIYE - AUGUST 3: A delegation from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul on Wednesday started inspections of the Razoni, the first grain ship to leave Ukraine since the start of the war with Russia. The Razoni, carrying over 26,500 tons of corn to Lebanon, anchored off the Turkish coast near the Black Sea entrance of the Istanbul Strait on Tuesday night. The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship departed from the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Monday, the first under a historic deal brokered by Türkiye and the UN last month to resume grain shipments from blockaded Ukrainian ports. Following inspections by a JCC delegation in Istanbul, where Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and UN personnel work, the Razoni will sail on for Lebanon’s Tripoli. Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a historic deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports – Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny – for grain stuck due the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month.(Footage by Lokman Akkaya /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)