site.btaAir Raid Alert Issued in Odesa and Odesa Region

An air raid alert was issued in Odesa at 3:16 am on Thursday. This is the first alert at this stage of the day. City officials warned of a possible ballistic missile attack.

On Wednesday, June 19, the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, organized by BTA, opened in Odesa. The world meeting continues on June 20 and 21 with discussion panels in Bolgrad and Izmail and online as a sign of support for the Bulgarian community in Odesa region.

On Wednesday, alarm bells and sirens interrupted the "Musical Hits of World Cinema" concert at the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, attended by participants of the Nineteenth World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, held in Ukraine. Minutes after the orchestra played the Star Wars soundtrack, it was announced over the loudspeakers in the concert hall that there was an alert and attendees had to go down to the bomb shelter of the building.

The Bulgarian delegation includes BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, BTA Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva, Bulgarian National Radio Director General Milen Mitev, head of the Council for Electronic Media Gabriela Naplatanova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences President Acad. Julian Revalski, Rector of Sofia University Prof. Georgi Valchev, Consul General of Bulgaria in Odesa Svetoslav Ivanov, Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad Executive Director Rayna Mandzhukova , as well as representatives of Bulgarian media and Bulgarian-language media from different countries around the world.

Odesa Province is home to the third largest community of expatriate Bulgarians, numbering more than 150,000 people, according to an official population census in Ukraine in 2001.

Between 50,000 and 60,000 Bulgarians live in the provincial capital, Odesa. Bulgarians in the province are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.

BTA is organizing the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Odesa, Bolhrad, and Izmail, Ukraine, from June 18 to June 21, 2024. The event is taking place with the support of Aurubis Bulgaria, A1 Bulgaria, Glavbolgarstroy Holding AD, Euroins Insurance Group, Postbank, SOF Connect, and the 13 Centuries of Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.