The Liberian-flagged Brave Commander departed from the Ukrainian port of Yuzhne, east of Odessa, according to regional governor Maksym Marchenko. It plans to sail to Djibouti, where the grain will be unloaded and transported to Ethiopia as part of the World Food Programme’s initiative. Ukraine and Russia reached an agreement with Turkey on July 22 to resume Black Sea grain deliveries, addressing a major export disruption since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Ethiopia is one of five countries that the UN considers to be at risk of famine. “The capacity is there. The wheat is there. The demand is all over the world and especially in these countries,” WFP Ukraine Coordinator Denise Brown told The Associated Press. “So if the stars align, we’re very, very optimistic that all the factors around this deal will come together on what is really an issue for humanity. So today was very positive.” On the front line, Russian forces fired rockets Sunday into the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, killing at least one person. This area is just north of the Russian-held city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces have vowed to retake. Ukraine’s emergency service said one person was killed in shelling early Sunday in the village of Bereznehuvate in Mykolaiv. A Russian diplomat, meanwhile, has called on Ukraine to offer security assurances so international inspectors can visit a nuclear plant in Ukraine that has come under fire. As fighting in southern Ukraine intensifies, concerns have risen sharply over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is held by Russian forces and has been hit by sporadic shelling. Both Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the bombing, which officials say has destroyed surveillance equipment and could lead to a nuclear meltdown. Ukraine’s nuclear power company said on Sunday that one person was killed in a Russian rocket attack on the city of Enerhodar where the plant is located. The Russian-controlled local government also reported the attack and death, but blamed Ukrainian forces. The Zaporizhzhia facility is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Russia’s Vienna-based envoy to international organizations, Mikhail Ulyanov, called on Ukraine to stop attacking the plant to allow an inspection team from the International Atomic Energy Agency to enter. “It is important that the Ukrainians stop the shelling of the station and provide security guarantees to the members of the mission. An international team cannot be sent to work under constant artillery bombardment,” Russia’s state-run Tass news agency said on Sunday. Ukraine says Russia is shelling nearby areas from the plant and storing weapons there.
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