Ukraine has announced a "humanitarian corridor" to let dozens of cargo ships trapped in its ports since the Russian invasion last year sail into the Black Sea, where shipping routes are under scrutiny after Moscow quit a deal to allow grain exports.
At least initially, the corridor appears to apply to vessels such as container ships that have been stuck in Ukrainian ports since the February 2022 invasion, and were not covered by the agreement that opened the ports for grain shipments last year.
But it could be a major test of Ukraine's ability to reopen sea lanes at a time when Russia is trying to reimpose its de-facto blockade, having abandoned the grain deal last month.
"Today a new temporary humanitarian corridor has started to work," Ukrainian navy spokesperson Oleh Chalyk said.
"The corridor will be very transparent, we will put cameras on the ships and there will be a broadcast to show that this is purely a humanitarian mission and has no military purpose," he said.
In a statement, the navy said the routes had already been proposed by Ukraine directly to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The routes would "primarily be used for civilian ships which have been in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdenny since the beginning of the full-scale invasion by Russia on February 24, 2022."
"Vessels whose owners/captains officially confirm that they are ready to sail in the current conditions will be allowed to pass through the routes," the statement added.
It said a risk remained from mines in the Black Sea and the military threat from Russia.
Responding, a German grain trader said that more details about the temporary shipping channel were needed "as it cannot work unless Russia gives a concrete commitment not to attack the ships".
Mr Chalyk gave no indication the corridor had been agreed with Russia.
Last month, Moscow quit the year-old Black Sea grain deal that had allowed Ukraine to safely export agricultural products, saying that a parallel deal to help ease Russia's own grain and fertiliser exports was not being implemented.
The United Nations said Russia's decision to quit the agreement risked creating a global food crisis, hurting poor countries worst, by keeping grain from one of the world's biggest exporters off the market.
Ukrainian drones downed nearing Crimea, Moscow - Russia
Russia has downed 11 Ukrainian drones nearing Crimea and two headed for Moscow, officials said, the latest in a series of air strikes on Russian-held territory.
"Two UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) flying in the direction of the city of Moscow were destroyed," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
One drone was shot down over the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow, it added, and another over the Odintsovsky district bordering the capital.
Those drones were shot down at around 4am (2am Irish time), Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
Two other Ukrainian drones were shot down near the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean coast, the defence ministry said, and "another 9 were suppressed by means of electronic warfare and crashed in the Black Sea".
It said there were no reports of damage or casualties in any of the affected areas.
The strikes come a day after Russia said two Ukrainian combat drones headed for Moscow were shot down, and constitute at least the fourth attack near the capital within a week.
Russia previously said it downed a drone over Kaluga on Monday, as well as seven drones in the region last Thursday.
Until a series of attacks in recent months, Moscow had not been targeted during the conflict in Ukraine, which began more than a year ago.
The Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, however, has been disrupted by several strikes throughout the hostilities, and has seen more frequent attacks in recent weeks.
Russia said on Saturday that it had downed a drone over the ocean near Sevastopol, the base of its Black Sea fleet.
Naval drones have targeted Russian vessels in the Black Sea several times in recent weeks, including an attack on an oil tanker on Saturday.
In July, Ukrainian drone strikes on Crimea blew up an ammunition depot and damaged the bridge across the Kerch Strait linking the peninsula to Russia's mainland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned last month that "war" was coming to Russia, with the country's "symbolic centres and military bases" becoming targets.
Air attacks have multiplied since Kyiv began a counteroffensive in June, though Ukrainian forces have made modest advances on the ground in the face of stiff resistance from Moscow's troops.
Yesterday, Russian officials said one person was killed and four others wounded by Ukrainian shelling on the border town of Gorkovsky in the southern Belgorod region, which has seen regular strikes.
On the other side of the front line, an oil depot in Ukraine's Rivne region was destroyed during a "massive drone attack" today, governor Vitaliy Koval said, adding that emergency services and investigators are on the scene.
Yesterday, a strike killed two people in Ukraine's southern city of Zaporizhzhia, while a woman and a young girl died in shelling in the Donetsk region.
