Day 172: First Ship Carrying Ukraine Wheat Arrives in Istanbul, 42 Countries Call on Russia to Withdraw From Zaporizhzhia Power

Facts

• The first ship carrying around 3k metric tons of wheat to be exported to Africa under a UN-backed deal arrived in Istanbul on Sunday, after leaving Ukraine's port of Chornomorsk on Friday.
• This comes as a UN-chartered ship loaded with 23k metric tons of grain set sail for Ethiopia on Sunday. It's scheduled to sail to Djibouti, where the grain will be unloaded and then taken to Ethiopia under the World Food Program initiative.
• Ethiopia – along with Somalia and Kenya – is in the midst of its worst drought in four decades. Forecasts suggest that for the fifth year in a row, a rainy season will not materialize. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in Ethiopia: "Food assistance needs are at record levels, with up to 15M people in need of food assistance."
• This was echoed by Pope Francis who said on Sunday that the war has taken attention away from world hunger and called on "international solidarity" to respond "efficiently to this emergency."
• Meanwhile, after repeated fire at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - which is occupied by Russian troops - the mayor of the city where the plant is located said on Sunday the risk of disaster is "increasing every day" and that "what is happening there is outright nuclear terrorism." Both Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for the attacks on the facility.
• According to an EU statement dated Friday and released Sunday, 42 countries have called on Russia to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This comes as Ukraine's nuclear power regulator announced that one of the power plant's employees was killed and two others injured by shelling in the area.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and Washington Post.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by PBS. This invasion is an egregious violation of international law. Putin's ultimate aim is to restore the Soviet empire, even if it takes massive bloodshed and false pretexts such as calling the 2014 Ukrainian revolution after an election a "coup". This unprovoked attack is the latest chapter in Putin's Orwellian attempt to rewrite history.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by National Security Archive.
• NATO and the US have ignored Russia's security concerns by breaking its promise not to expand eastward in return for German reunification. These concerns are legitimate and taking them seriously would have avoided the Ukraine tragedy.
• Narrative C, as provided by IOL. A global food crisis was already exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Russia's war on Ukraine only made matters worse. With Ukraine being the world's fifth largest exporter of grain – reportedly making up 40% of the World Food Programme's wheat stock – the resumption of its exports is a welcomed relief. However, the only way to abate the global food crisis is to end the war.