The operation of the humanitarian maritime corridor that was established under the Black Sea Grain Initiative to allow ships to export grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine was suspended on Tuesday, 11 April, because of the absence of inspections by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC).
Ukraine blames this situation on sabotage by the Russian Federation, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Interfax Ukraine news agency.
According to information from the JCC, the last four inspections took place on 10 April. They were conducted on ships that left the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk on 31 March-1 April.
According to a list published on the JCC’s website, 31 ships with departure dates from 1 to 11 April did not undergo inspection. Two of them left Ukrainian ports on Tuesday and three the day before.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories, and Infrastructure Yurii Vaskov confirmed in comments to The Guardian newspaper that the JCC conducted no inspections of vessels on 11 April. According to him, Ukraine’s representatives in the JCC submitted the names of three grain ships for inspection, but Russia’s representatives crossed out the names and submitted the names of other vessels. As a result, no vessel was allowed to proceed.
"We have a critical situation. The Russians violated the terms of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. They decided to change the plans of Ukrainian ports unilaterally. This is unacceptable," he said.
