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

Russia halts Ukraine Black Sea grain exports

Russia has suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the UN-backed deal that reopened Ukraine’s ports to feed countries around the world.
Photo: Reuters

Russia has notified the UN that it was suspending participation in the Black Sea grain deal indefinitely and requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on 31 October. Moscow did that as a retaliatory measure to what it called a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in the port of Sevastopol.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a U.N.-backed deal brokered in July, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the reopening of three key Ukrainian ports.

Russia's Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine's 73rd Special Naval Operations Center attacked the Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with 16 drones on Saturday, and that British navy "specialists" had helped coordinate the "terrorist" attack. Moscow also accused British navy personnel of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines on September 26,, BNR correspondent Angel Grigorov reported from Moscow. London has denied these accusations. 

U.S. President Joe Biden called the move "purely outrageous", while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed  the United Nations and Group of 20 (G20) major economies must make a strong response to what he called Russia's nonsensical move, warning that it would cause famine in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to discuss Moscow's decision to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Earlier on Saturday, Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed head of the Donetsk region - one of four regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally proclaimed as its territory last month - announced that another 50-50 exchange of prisoners had been carried out, including military and civilians, some of them detained since the beginning of the war. Meanwhile a Ukrainian defense official said Russian troops were engaged in a massive redeployment in the south of the country.

Slovenia has sent 28 M-55S tanks to Ukraine in exchange for equipment from Germany, an agreement concluded in September between Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Slovenian Ministry of Defence was quoted as saying by 24ur.com.



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

President Rumen Radev vetoes SANS Act

President Rumen Radev has returned for new discussion in the National Assembly the amendments to the State Agency for National Security (SANS) Act, adopted on October 2 this year, which assign the power to appoint or dismiss the chairman of the agency..

published on 10/14/25 6:42 PM

Wednesday will be cloudy with occasional sunny spells and brief showers in the east

On Wednesday, the lowest temperatures will range between 6°C and 11°C, around 7°C in Sofia. Cloud cover will remain significant over most of the country, with rain showers in parts of Eastern Bulgaria and the mountains, more intense in the Rhodope..

published on 10/14/25 6:40 PM

IMF predicts growth of Bulgarian economy

In its new World Economic Outlook report, the IMF has raised its forecasts for Bulgarian economic growth this year and next, compared to its estimates from April. At the same time, IMF expects increase in inflation, as well as a decrease in the..

published on 10/14/25 6:20 PM