Maritime Warning
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Naval blockade of Ukrainian ports resume as Russia issues maritime warning and carries out massive strikes on enemy targets
The Russian military issued a new navigational warning for the Black Sea on Wednesday, declaring certain areas in its international waters to be “temporarily unsafe” for vessels. Apart from that, the military advised seafarers against attempting to reach Ukraine’s ports, stating that all vessels heading there will be treated as potential carriers of war goods starting from Thursday.
Therefore, the flag state of a ship attempting to reach the Ukrainian Black Sea ports will be deemed as “taking part in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime,” the Russian Defense ministry said in a statement.
The military said it also declared certain areas in the international waters of the Black Sea to be “temporarily unsafe” for navigation. The areas are located in the north-west and south-east of the waterway, the military noted, adding that all the necessary navigational warnings have already been published as required under existing procedures.
“With the termination of the Black Sea Initiative and the abolition of the maritime humanitarian corridor, from 00:00 Moscow time on July 20, 2023, all ships en route to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea will be considered potential carriers of military cargo,” the military insisted.
The new restrictions de-facto re-impose the Russian naval blockade on Ukraine, lifted under the so-called Black Sea grain deal in July 2022. The agreement, signed with mediation by the UN and Türkiye, enabled the safe shipment of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea corridors amid the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
Moscow withdrew from the deal on Monday, citing the West’s failure to keep any of the promises made to Russia under the agreement, including re-enabling exports of grain and fertilizers from the country.
Over the past two days following the second attack on the Crimean bridge, Russia launched massive cruise missile and suicide-drone barrage on targets in Ukraine overnight, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Military infrastructure, fuel depots, weapon stockpiles, and an airbase were among the targets identified by the Russian military in its daily briefing.It said a group strike had been conducted using “high-precision sea- and air-launched weapons,” which struck “military industry facilities, fuel infrastructure, and ammunition depots” near the city of Odessa, as well as Ukraine’s Kanatovo air base in Kirovohrad Region. All the designated targets were successfully hit and the objectives of the strikes were achieved, it added.
Footage circulating online shows massive explosions in the vicinity of Odessa, including at its Black Sea ports. Ukrainian officials have claimed the strikes also inflicted damage on civilian infrastructure, with the city’s mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, saying the attack was the largest since the beginning of hostilities. He described last night in the city as “terrible.”
A grain terminal at a port near Odessa was damaged in the strikes, but it was not immediately clear what exactly struck the installation, particularly given the recent history of Ukraine’s own air-defense units inflicting damage on civilian infrastructure in the country, and even abroad.
The port town of Chernomorsk, located some 20km south of Odessa, experienced particularly heavy destruction overnight, according to Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Nikolay Solskiy. Some 60 tons of grain were destroyed there, while damage to the port will take around a year to repair, he claimed.
The termination of the grain deal coincided with a new Ukrainian attack on the strategic Crimean Bridge. The blast killed a Russian civilian couple and seriously injured their 14-year-old daughter. The incident was described by top Russian officials as a “terrorist attack,” with President Vladimir Putin vowing to retaliate.
Source Telegram/RT/AFP/TASS
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