Despite the shelling, 85 ships are heading to the ports of Ukraine

The Russian attacks did not stop the work of the Ukrainian maritime corridor — the ports are working normally.

Russian shelling of ports did not affect the work of the sea corridor, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Timur Tkachenko said in an interview with “Interfax-Ukraine”.

Black Sea ports continue to function, despite Russian aggression, and 85 ships are currently on the approaches to them.

“Despite the enemy attack, the sea corridor is operating as usual. The volume of exports is increasing compared to last year,” Tkachenko said.

During the first 10 days of October, 2.1 million tons of products were exported through the corridor, of which 1.5 million tons were grain. For comparison, in October 2023, 1.9 million tons were exported through the ports.

Russia does not stop trying to block Ukrainian exports, which, according to Tkachenko, has a negative impact on global food markets. Despite the tense situation, the critical infrastructure of Ukrainian ports is protected by engineering structures, including gabions and boom barriers, which reduces the risk of air and sea drone strikes.

Tkachenko emphasized that effective protection of ports requires strengthening of air defense systems with the support of international partners. Although there is a compensation mechanism for damages caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine, no payments have been made under it so far.

We will remind, on October 14, Russian terrorists attacked Odesa with a ballistic missile. One person died, eight were injured. The port infrastructure was once again the target of the enemy.