Despite the ongoing war, Ukraine has exported some 15 million metric tons of cargo through its Black Sea shipping corridor, including 10 million tons of agricultural goods, according to Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov on Monday.

Ukraine launched the corridor hugging the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria in August shortly after Russia withdrew from a 2022 Black Sea grain export deal brokered by the U.N. and Türkiye and threatened to treat all vessels as potential military targets.

"Over the five months of the corridor's operation, 469 new vessels have called at our Ukrainian ports for loading," Kubrakov said in a statement.

He said that currently, 39 ships were being loaded in the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Pivdennyi, while another 83 vessels had confirmed their readiness to call at the ports and export 2.4 million tons of various cargoes.

Ukraine, a major global grain grower and exporter, says its exportable grain surplus totals 50 million tons in the 2023/24 July-June season. It had exported 19.4 million tons of grain as of Jan. 8.