KYIV, UKRAINE — A Ukrainian ship carrying grain left the Port of Chornomorsk on Sept. 19 in defiance of Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian shipments, which it reinstated on July 17 when it pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Reuters reported.

Oleksandr Kurakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said on social media that “the vessel Resilient Africa with 3,000 tonnes of wheat has left the Port of Chornomorsk and is heading toward the Bosphorus.”

Kurakov said the ship had entered the Ukrainian port recently in a newly established corridor along with another vessel that would soon leave for Egypt. Ukraine unilaterally declared the maritime corridor, which hugs the western coast of the Black Sea, after Russia abandoned the deal.

Ukraine is proceeding with the grain shipment despite Russian threats to treat civilian vessels as potential military targets.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 22, 2022, and during the first five months of the conflict established a blockade to prevent Ukraine from exporting grain on the Black Sea. Russia agreed to suspend the blockade in July 2022 when it signed a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkish government allowing grain exports to resume. Russia suspended the agreement two months ago, reinstating the blockade, and it began bombing Ukrainian grain assets in Black Sea ports and along the Danube River.

During the 12-month period that the blockade was suspended, Ukraine exported about 33 million tonnes of agricultural products from its Black Sea ports.