00:00torn and twisted metal, with its precious cargo scorched and scattered.
00:05The Ukrainian Navy says this ship, the Aya, was struck by a Russian cruise missile
00:11after it left Ukraine's territorial waters.
00:14It's the first time a civilian vessel carrying Ukrainian grain has been hit while at sea
00:19since Russia's invasion more than two years ago.
00:22As tracking data shows, the Egypt-bound ship was off the coast of Romania when it was hit,
00:28but Romanian authorities say it wasn't in their territorial waters at the time.
00:34With Ukraine one of the world's largest grain producers and exporters,
00:38President Zelensky branded the attack a threat to the world's food supply.
00:43In a statement, he said,
00:45Ukraine is one of the key global food security guarantors.
00:48Domestic stability and normal life in dozens of countries around the world
00:52are dependent on the normal and unhindered operation of our food export corridor.
00:59That corridor replaced the previous route after Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal
01:03to provide safe passage for Ukraine's agricultural exports.
01:07Now ships hug Ukraine's coastline before passing by NATO members Romania and Bulgaria
01:12to reach Turkey and the Bosphorus Strait.
01:17The new route has allowed Kiev's grain to keep reaching many countries in Africa and the Middle East
01:22that rely heavily on Ukrainian supplies.
01:26But this attack on the Aya casts fresh doubt on Ukraine's ability
01:30to get its much-needed grain out to the world.
