Russia blocks 4 Egypt-bound corn-loaded ships

Ukraine yesterday accused Russia of blocking four Egypt-bound ships loaded with wheat and corn from leaving Ukrainian ports.

“The Riva Wind ship is ready to bring 27,000 metric tons of corn to Egypt – enough to feed well over a million people for a month,” the Ukrainian embassy in Egypt said on Facebook.

The embassy had pointed out that Moscow had mined the “Black Sea floor, preventing the ship from sailing to Egypt from Ukraine’s Pivdennyi port.”

On 24 March, the embassy said in a statement that Kyiv would “do its best to supply Egypt with wheat, as soon as the war stops.”

Since the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine on 24 February, many Arab and Gulf countries have been attempting to secure their food needs.

Egypt imports more than eight million tons annually from Russia, and four million others from Ukraine, according to official data.

On 24 February, Russia launched a war against Ukraine, which was followed by a spate of international condemnation and the imposition of tough economic and financial sanctions on Moscow.

The Ukrainian embassy said recently said that Moscow had prevented the movement of Egypt-bound ships loaded with wheat, but the Russian embassy in Cairo has denied the accusations.

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