Zelenskyy says Ukraine received new air defense systems, missiles

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday announced that his country received new air defense systems and missiles.

“The implementation of important defense agreements with our partners continues. We received both scarce missiles for existing air defense systems and new, modern anti-aircraft systems. Thank you to our friends,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram following a daily staff meeting.

Zelenskyy further said that Ukraine’s efforts to increase domestic military production has given results, expressing that they are now producing six Bohdana self-propelled howitzers per month for the first time.

“And we can already see how to increase it even more,” Zelenskyy also said.

He further said that he also received intelligence reports from the country’s eastern and southern front, adding that the country's grain exports from its new "corridor" exceeded 7 million tons.

On July 17, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal, saying that the Russian part of the agreement had not been implemented. It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its fertilizer before returning to the agreement.

The agreement, initially signed in July of last year in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022.

In August, Ukraine declared that temporary corridors have been established for merchant vessels arriving at and departing from the country’s ports in the Black Sea.