We’re now closing the Russia-Ukraine war blog for today, thanks for following along with the Guardian’s live coverage. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.
For a summary of today's events, see this post for the major news headlines.
That’s all from me, Jem Bartholomew in London. See you next time.
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After Ukraine began using a new naval route to bypass Russia’s de facto blockade of its Black Sea ports – with two ships in the past week successfully sailing the new route – here’s a rundown on what the Black Sea grain deal was and why it was so important before it collapsed when Russia pulled out in July.
My colleague Patrick Wintour wrote about the deal in late July:
What was the Black Sea grain deal? The Black Sea grain initiative was negotiated in July 2022 between Turkey, the UN and Russia as a way of ensuring that Ukraine, one of the breadbaskets of the world, could ensure that its grain could leave its southern ports via the Bosphorus. The grain could not be exported in the quantities required using the alternative methods of road or rail through Poland or by canal and river through Romania.
What did the grain deal promise? The initiative, one of the few diplomatic achievements since the war started, allowed for commercial food and fertiliser (including ammonia) exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi (formerly known as Yuzhny). Ukrainian vessels guided cargo ships into international waters of the Black Sea, avoiding mined areas. The vessels then proceeded towards Istanbul along an agreed maritime humanitarian corridor. Ships heading to and from the Ukrainian ports were inspected by teams composed of Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian and UN inspectors.
Read the full story here:
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