Ukraine said on Monday it hoped a UN-brokered deal aimed at easing global food shortages by resuming grain exports from the Black Sea region would start to be implemented this week.
Moscow brushed aside concerns that the deal could be derailed by a Russian missile strike on Ukraine's port of Odesa on Saturday, saying it had targeted only military infrastructure.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced Saturday's attack as "barbarism" that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement a deal struck just one day earlier with Turkish and United Nations mediation.
The Ukrainian military, quoted by public broadcaster Suspilne, said the Russian missiles did not hit the port's grain storage area or cause significant damage. Kyiv said preparations to resume grain shipments were ongoing.
"We continue technical preparations for the launch of exports of agricultural products from our ports," Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a Facebook post.
According to the Ukrainian military, two Kalibr missiles fired from Russian warships hit the area of a pumping station at the port, while two others were shot down by air defence forces.
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2. Slovakia might donate its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, defence minister says
Slovakia may consider donating its fleet of Soviet-era MiG warplanes to Ukraine, Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Monday.
Nad said, “we can discuss the future" of his country’s 11 MiG-29 fighter jets after they are grounded “most probably” by the end of August.
Since the start of the invasion on 24 February, Ukraine has urged Western allies to provide it with warplanes to challenge Moscow's air superiority.
However, Ukraine's allies have been reluctant to give Kyiv the fighter jets it asks
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