Ukraine: Despite Russian Missile Attack, Alternative Export Route in the Black Sea Remains Open

On Thursday, November 9, Alexander Kubrakov, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, stated that despite a recent Russian attack on a civilian ship, an alternative export route in the Black Sea remains open. According to Reuters, Ukrainian officials reported on Wednesday that a Russian missile attack on a civilian ship flying the Liberian flag, which was entering a port in the Odessa region of the Black Sea, caused damage, killed one person, and injured four others. The ship was supposed to transport iron ore to China. Kubrakov noted that despite this attack, ship traffic from the ports in the Odessa region continues. He added, 'Six ships carrying 231,000 tons of agricultural products have left the ports of Odessa and are heading towards the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey.' He also mentioned that five ships are waiting to enter the ports for loading, and despite systematic Russian attacks on infrastructure, these ports remain active. After withdrawing from a UN-mediated agreement that guaranteed the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea, Russia has continuously targeted Ukraine's port infrastructure. In August, Ukraine launched a 'humanitarian corridor' for ships heading to markets in Africa and Asia to bypass the Russian blockade in the Black Sea. Later, senior Ukrainian agricultural officials stated that this route, which runs along the southwestern coast of Ukraine in the Black Sea and reaches the waters of Romania and Turkey, would also be used for grain transportation. According to the Agricultural Trade Association, the use of this alternative route increased Ukraine's agricultural exports by 15% this month, reaching 4.8 million tons. Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, during his visit to Kazakhstan on Thursday, called for the development of wheat and fertilizer transport routes in Asia. According to Reuters, Moscow is seeking new export routes due to Western sanctions. Putin, who chaired the agricultural cooperation conference with Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, stated that Russia will have about 60 million tons of wheat for export this year. He assured attendees that Russia will remain the world's largest wheat exporter and will maintain this title. Putin called for further development of shipping routes to major Asian markets such as China and India. Western sanctions on Russian banks and companies have made it more difficult for Russian exporters to send grain and conduct financial transactions, although the sanctions do not specifically target agricultural items. Reports indicate that Moscow has asked exporters to adopt a minimum export price for wheat to protect farmers' incomes, although the effectiveness of this semi-official scheme is unclear. Experts say Kazakhstan is also seeking to become a logistics hub for exporting Russian goods to China and Iran. The country currently operates a railway line between Russia and China and has railway connections with Iran along the Caspian Sea. This is Putin's third known trip abroad since the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for the Russian President on war crime charges; the Kremlin denies these allegations. Kazakhstan, like China and Kyrgyzstan, two other countries Putin has recently visited, is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court. The ICC, which accuses Putin of the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine, urges its 123 member countries to transfer him to The Hague for trial if he enters their territory.