The next ships with Ukrainian grain are loaded and ready to depart, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on late Wednesday.

"If Russia holds to its commitments under the UN-brokered grain initiative, they will reach foreign customers and help tame food prices and avert hunger. Ukraine remains committed to combating global food insecurity," he wrote in a tweet.

The first grain ship, Razoni, under the exports deal has passed through the Bosphorus Strait on Wednesday en route to Lebanon.

It left Odesa on the Black Sea early on Monday carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn and anchored at the entrance of the Bosphorus Strait on Tuesday night. 

(With input from Reuters)