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Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba called Monday a "day of relief for the world" as his country resumed grain shipments for the first time since Russia's offensive began.

"The day of relief for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade," Kuleba wrote in a post on Twitter. "Ukraine has always been a reliable partner and will remain one should Russia respect its part of the deal."

Watching as the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set off from Odesa's port on Monday morning, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko called it "Ukraine's victory" over Russia.

Honcharenko, the son of a former Odesa mayor, said this "historic moment" was only possible because Ukraine had inflicted so much damage on the Russian Navy and had liberated nearby Snake Island, forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a deal.

"It shows again the the language of force is the only language Putin understands," Honcharenko told ABC News.

Honcharenko said he believes 16 more ships in the port will now begin moving out in the coming days. But he cautioned that he thinks Putin will now try to do everything to limit the ships coming in and out to a minimum within the U.N.-brokered deal, utilizing airstrikes near Ukrainian ports as well as trying to invent bureaucratic obstacles.

The next big test of the deal will be when the first ships come to enter Odesa, which Honcharenko said is expected at the end of this week.

-ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic, Oleksii Pshemyskiy and Patrick Reevell

The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain departed Odesa on Monday morning under an internationally brokered deal attempting to ease a global hunger crisis.

The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni left the Ukrainian port city and is headed to Lebanon, a tiny Mideast nation that imports nearly all of its grain and lacks storage space after a 2020 explosion destroyed grain silos at its main port in Beirut. The vessel is expected to reach Istanbul on Tuesday, where it will be inspected before being allowed to proceed to Tripoli, according to a statement from the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.

Razoni, which is carrying 26,527 tons of corn, is the first commercial ship to set off from Ukraine's port of Odesa since Feb. 26 and the first vessel to depart under the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to a statement from the spokesperson for the the United Nations secretary-general. Last month, Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements with Turkey and the U.N. to allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and for Russia to export grain and fertilizers.

Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain, fertilizer and fuel has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine -- often referred to collectively as Europe's breadbasket -- produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but a Russian blockade in the Black Sea combined with Ukrainian naval mines have made exporting siloed grain and other foodstuffs virtually impossible. As a result, millions of people around the world -- particularly in Africa and the Middle East -- are now on the brink of famine.

In a televised address to his nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the Russian shelling Sunday of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine as "one of the most brutal" in the five-month war.

Zelenskyy said the missile attacks hit residential buildings, schools, industrial facilities and other social infrastructure.

He also expressed condolences over the deaths of billionaire Ukrainian farmer Oleksiy Vadaturskyy and his wife, Raisa, who died when a missile struck their home in Mykolaiv.

Zelenskyy called Vadaturskyy, founder of one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural companies, "the hero of Ukraine."

"It is exactly such people, such companies, our Ukrainian south that have guaranteed the world's food security. It has always been so. And it will be so again," Zelenskyy said. "The Russian terrorists should not even hope that they will be able to destroy the social and industrial potential of Ukraine and walk through the ruins."

Zelenskyy said the Russian army is attempting to strengthen its positions in the occupied areas of the south by moving part of its forces to the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions there from the east.

"But this will not help them there," Zelenskyy said. "None of the Russian strikes goes unanswered by our military and intelligence officers. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to respond to any new activity of the occupiers."

Zelenskyy added, "Strategically, Russia has no chance of winning this war. And it is necessary to hold on, so that even at the tactical levels, the terrorist state feels its defeat. We have to hold on in the south, in the east and everywhere."