Ukraine said on Saturday it had exported about 13 million tonnes of goods since the Black Sea Shipping Corridor was established in August, which has become vital to its trade despite threats from Russian bombing, AFP reported.

According to the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov, these “13 million tons” were transported by 400 ships.

He expressed “gratitude” to the Ukrainian military and international partners for ensuring the operation of the corridor “in conditions of military aggression.”

After a difficult 2023 on the front line, Ukraine can boast of successes in the Black Sea, where it inflicted great damage on the much stronger Russian fleet.

The Kyiv military managed to keep Russian ships off the southwestern part of the Black Sea and open a sea corridor for the export of Ukrainian grain, ignoring threats of bombing.

The corridor was created in August to connect ports in southern Ukraine and the Bosphorus Strait, weeks after Moscow slammed the door on a grain deal between the two rival countries.

This agreement made it possible to export almost 33 million tons of Ukrainian grain and other food products through the Black Sea in a year.

The route is all the more important because several overland routes have been blocked in recent months by demonstrations by Polish truckers unhappy with what they see as “unfair” competition from their Ukrainian counterparts.

Russia has threatened to attack ships arriving or departing from Ukrainian ports, as well as strike port and grain infrastructure.

A Panamanian-flagged merchant ship heading to a Ukrainian port to load grain was damaged by a mine this week, injuring two sailors.

On Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated his country’s maritime successes, saying that this year his forces “recaptured the sea.”