Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

First grain ship leaves Ukraine, “too soon” to celebrate, President Zelensky says

Freight ship under a Sierra Leone flag, loaded with more than 26,000 tonnes of corn, leave port Odessa, 1 August, 2022
Photo: EPA/BGNES

Hours after the first ship of corn left Odessa, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that there were another 16 ships ready to transport grain out of Ukraine, adding that it was “too soon” to celebrate.

According to the Turkish newspaper Star, the first ship with 26 tonnes of corn from Ukraine will arrive in Istanbul on the night of 2 August, and after an inspection will leave for Lebanon on Wednesday. According to the UN, up to 5 million tonnes of farming produce a month could be exported from Ukraine using safe corridors.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday called Russia's actions around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant “the height of irresponsibility,” accusing Moscow of using it as a “nuclear shield” in attacks on Ukrainian forces, Reuters reports. “Washington is "deeply concerned" that Moscow is now using the plant as a military base and firing on Ukrainian forces from around it,” Antony Blinken said.

The White House has announced that the US would send another USD 550 million in arms to Ukraine to meet the country’s critical security and defense needs, increasing the total American investment in war fighting there to more than USD 8.7 billion since the start of the war. This latest package of military aid includes 155 mm artillery ammunition and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

Ukraine continues to receive advanced weapons from Germany, some of them so modern they are not in the arsenal of the Bundeswehr yet. German chancellor Olaf Scholz said, for The Globe and Mail, that “Ukrainians are being trained on new and more sophisticated equipment in several locations in Germany”.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

About 700,000 Bulgarians with disabilities need support

About 700,000 people with varying degrees of disability need various social services and support. This was announced by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov at the Center for Social Rehabilitation and Integration..

published on 3/18/25 4:29 PM

Condition of the Kočani fire victims receiving treatment in Bulgaria remains serious

The condition of the 14 victims of the tragic incident in the Republic of North Macedonia, who have been admitted for treatment in Bulgaria, remains serious, the Ministry of Health announced. The eight patients hospitalized in the..

published on 3/18/25 2:49 PM

President and Speaker of the Parliament express condolences at the North Macedonian Embassy

We are waiting for North Macedonia to decide whether there is a need to transport 10 more of the Kočani fire victims to Bulgaria. This was what President Rumen Radev said after signing the book of condolences at the Embassy of North..

published on 3/18/25 1:25 PM