Russia delivered 25,000 tons of grain assistance to North Korea via the west coast port of Nampho, its embassy in Pyongyang said on Saturday, Moscow’s second such free wheat shipment of the year.

The donation comes at an especially difficult time for the DPRK: the country is suffering from chronic sanctions impacts, consequences from an extended COVID-19 border shutdown and the wake of three back-to-back typhoons.

But due to the global pandemic, North Korean consumers won’t get immediate access to the grain aid.

The wheat was unloaded at a location 12 kilometers from Nampho’s West Sea Barrage, the