Greek foreign minister leads humanitarian aid mission to Odesa

Reuters

16:52 JST, April 3, 2022

ATHENS, April 3 (Reuters) — Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will land in Odesa on Sunday, leading a humanitarian aid mission into the southern port city of Ukraine, the foreign ministry said.

The humanitarian aid will be handed to the city’s municipal authorities.

Dendias, 62, also plans to set up a continuous mechanism of distributing aid from Greece and to reopen Greece’s consulate in the city, the foreign ministry said.

Missiles struck Odesa in the early hours of Sunday, the city council said in an online post. Read full story

Dendias said last month he planned to lead a humanitarian aid mission to the besieged city of Mariupol in Ukraine, where thousands of ethnic Greeks live, but intense fighting there meant the destination was subsequently changed to Odesa.

At least 10 ethnic Greeks have been killed and several have been wounded since Russia started attacking Mariupol. More than 150 Greek citizens, vessel crews and ethnic Greeks have been evacuated from the region, according to the Greek government.

Ukraine’s troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion. Read full story

Russia has depicted its drawdown of forces near Kyiv as a goodwill gesture in peace talks. Ukraine and its allies say Russia was forced to shift its focus to east Ukraine after suffering heavy losses.