More than a week after the agreement in Istanbul, the long wait for the grain ships in Odessa continues, although the departure of the first cargo has been cyclically announced in the last few hours.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on a mission to the city on the Black Sea, reiterated that Kiev was ready to launch the first ship.
But Ukrainian wheat, directed primarily to the Middle East and Africa, has not yet given up on its moorings.
And, in the meantime, Russia has returned to attack the south of the country, hitting the city of Mykolaiv in the night.
The stalemate on the grain ships was accompanied by a series of Russian attacks and mutual accusations between Kiev and Moscow.
The massacre of the fighters of the Azov brigade, defenders of the Azvostal steel plant and prisoners in the Olenivka prison, is still targeted.
hit by a raid that caused fifty victims.
"The EU condemns with the utmost firmness the atrocities committed by the Russian army. These inhuman and barbaric acts represent serious violations of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocol and constitute war crimes", underlined the High Representative for Politics. European foreign, Josep Borrell.
In Kiev, relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war former defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol and various activists protested on the streets of the capital, enraged also by the tweet released by the Russian embassy in London.
"The Azov militants deserve execution, but death not by shooting but by hanging, because they are not real soldiers. They deserve a humiliating death", were the words of the Russian diplomatic headquarters.
During the night, Moscow returned to launch missiles in the Donbass and on the city of Mykolaiv, causing at least seven deaths.
In short, the war shows no sign of stopping.
Indeed, Moscow is recruiting volunteers across the country with the aim of replenishing the army by at least 30,000.
From Murmansk, in the Arctic Circle, to Perm, in the Urals, and to Primorsky Krai, in the Russian Far East, an appeal was made for both patriotism and the wallets of Russians.
And, given the numerous losses to be filled, military experience is no longer even required.
In this context, the fragile implementation of
agreement between the UN, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia on wheat does not take off.
According to the latest news, 16 ships are filled with cereals waiting for a safe corridor in the Black Sea in the ports of Odessa, Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk.
The dossier was also the focus of a phone call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
From the US, on the other hand, there is a signal that could significantly change the war scenario.
A group of bipartisan lawmakers who visited Ukraine last week asked President Biden to send "advisers" to help Kiev forces manage the thousands of US-sent weapons, organize logistics and provide support. to local intelligence.
They are the 'Green Berets', special forces of the
US military trained for unconventional wars and high-risk operations.
"No one is suggesting to send soldiers";
Republican Michael Waltz pointed out.
But it would be, in some way, 'boots on the ground', which Washington has always said against.
The 'green berets' were the first to be sent to Vietnam.
And then we know how it ended.