The once-sleepy river ports on the Danube River have become a main route for Ukraine’s food exports — and regular targets for Russian missiles.
ADRIAN MA, HOST:
During almost two years of war, Russia has done its best to destroy Ukraine’s huge grain export industry. Russian attacks and threats have almost shut down commercial shipping on the Black Sea. But as NPR’s Joanna Kakissis reports, Ukraine has found a workaround.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: The city of Izmail in southwestern Ukraine is just across the Danube River from Romania. It feels like an overlooked place. The roads are uneven, the houses are humble, and the port here seems at first like nothing special. But in the last six months, Izmail has become one of the busiest harbors in Ukraine. Zachar Medvedev runs the terminal here for Nibulon, one of Ukraine’s largest agribusinesses. We’re standing along the river shore.
ZAHAR MEDVEDEV: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: Here’s where we load up the wheat, he says, as a mechanical arm moves grain from a truck to a river barge.
MEDVEDEV: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: And you can see the rest of our fleet right there waiting for cargo, he says, pointing to more barges lined along the coast. The barges will follow the Danube until it empties into the Black Sea, then transfer the cargo onto larger ships near the Romanian coast. Medvedev says the founder of Nibulon started moving some operations here after Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago.
MEDVEDEV: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: Now, he says, nearly all of our grain cargo leaves from Izmail. Ukraine produces about 10% of the world’s wheat. Commercial ships are evading Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea by hugging Ukraine’s southwest coast. Shipments leave from both Black Sea ports and the Danube, eventually reaching the territorial waters of NATO countries like Romania and Turkey. Ukraine is once again dependably shipping…
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