First ship carrying grain leaves Odessa in deal to ease global food crisis

ODESSA, Ukraine — The first ship carrying grain departed a Ukrainian port early Monday under a United Nations-brokered deal to ease a global food crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The cargo vessel, loaded with more than 26,000 metric tons of corn, left Odessa amid fears that the deal, signed in Istanbul in late July, would fall apart after a Russian missile strike on the port a day after the signing.