Russia has destroyed almost 300,000 metric tons of grain since July in attacks on Ukraine's port facilities and on ships, the Ukrainian government said on October 13.
Reuters reported that since Russia left the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July, Russian forces have hit six civilian ships and 150 port and grain facilities during 17 attacks, destroying crops headed for export, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a statement.
The damage on Ukrainian ports reduced the country's grain export potential by 40%, said Kubrakov. Russia has attacked port facilities on both the Black Sea and Danube River.
Ukrainian grain exports have fallen 25% to 6.82 million metric tons so far in the 2023/24 July-June season, from 8.99 million tons in the same period of 2022/23, the agriculture ministry data showed in early October.
The ministry said that 153,000 tons of grain were exported in the first three days of October 2023, compared with 297,000 tons a year ago.
With a de facto Russian blockade on its vital sea exports, Ukraine established a "humanitarian corridor" along the Black Sea coast to ship grain for African and Asian markets in August. According to Reuters, 21 grain-loaded vessels have used the humanitarian grain corridor since its inception.
