Sixteen ships loaded with grain ready to leave Ukraine’s Odesa

A Ukrainian serviceman stands in front of silos of grain at the Chernomorsk port in the Odesa region [File: Nacho Doce/Reuters]

Sixteen ships loaded with grain were set to depart from the Ukrainian port of Odesa, as tensions flair up again over a missile attack that killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday the departure of the ships was imminent.