MOLOHA, Ukraine — Last week, Valentin Pavlenko loaded two trucks with grain from his farm in southern Ukraine. Normally, he sends them two hours east to the deep-water port of Odesa, but this time they headed in the other direction, to the small port of Reni on the Danube river.
He’s not the only grower looking for alternate shipping routes. The highway west from Odesa is clogged with eighteen-wheelers — hundreds, if not thousands in a week; they are delivering grain to alternate distribution points, now that Russia has not only pulled out of a deal allowing unfettered passage for Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, but also bombed Odesa and other ports that ring the city.