Russian drones pounded grain storage facilities and ports along the Danube River that Ukraine has increasingly relied on as an alternative transport route to Europe, after Moscow broke off a key wartime shipping agreement using the Black Sea.

At the same time, a loaded container ship stranded at the Black Sea port of Odesa since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than 17 months ago set sail along a temporary corridor established by Ukraine for merchant shipping.

Ukraine’s economy, crunched by the war, is heavily dependent on farming.

Its agricultural exports, like those of Russia, are also crucial for world supplies of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food that developing nations rely on.

Analysts say Black Sea shipping has in general remained steady since the end of the grain deal, despite higher insurance rates, but shipments out of Ukraine have dropped off.

(Canadian Press)