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A day after Russia said all commercial ships heading to Ukrainian ports could be treated as hostile, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry responded on Thursday with its own warning, saying ships heading to Russian ports or ports in occupied Ukraine would be seen as carrying “military cargo”. , with all the corresponding risks.”
“By openly threatening civilian ships carrying food from Ukrainian ports, launching missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in peaceful cities, and deliberately creating a military threat on trade routes, the Kremlin has turned the Black Sea into a danger zone for Russian ships,” the ministry said. The warnings escalated tensions in the Black Sea, raising fears that war could escalate and severely disrupt commercial shipping, potentially wreaking havoc on global grain supplies. It comes just days after Russia withdrew from a UN-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine’s grain exports to reach the entire world, easing global food shortages. Russia and Ukraine are major wheat growers.
Russia has also mined routes to Ukraine’s ports, a White House official warned, adding to Ukraine’s complex mine maze. “We believe this is a concerted effort to justify any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea and to blame Ukraine for these attacks,” Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet certainly has the ability to sink unarmed merchant ships. Ukraine lacks an effective navy but has had some success targeting Russian warships with missiles and drones. Last year, its forces sank the Russian flagship, the Moskva.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry issued a warning to shipping operators and other countries that any attempt to bypass the blockade could be seen as an act of war, saying ships bound for Ukrainian ports would be considered “potential carriers of military cargo.”
The escalation in the Black Sea pushed US wheat futures higher on Thursday, after they jumped 8.5% on Wednesday, the fastest one-day rise since the early days of Russia’s invasion in February last year.
“By openly threatening civilian ships carrying food from Ukrainian ports, launching missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in peaceful cities, and deliberately creating a military threat on trade routes, the Kremlin has turned the Black Sea into a danger zone for Russian ships,” the ministry said. The warnings escalated tensions in the Black Sea, raising fears that war could escalate and severely disrupt commercial shipping, potentially wreaking havoc on global grain supplies. It comes just days after Russia withdrew from a UN-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine’s grain exports to reach the entire world, easing global food shortages. Russia and Ukraine are major wheat growers.
Russia has also mined routes to Ukraine’s ports, a White House official warned, adding to Ukraine’s complex mine maze. “We believe this is a concerted effort to justify any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea and to blame Ukraine for these attacks,” Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet certainly has the ability to sink unarmed merchant ships. Ukraine lacks an effective navy but has had some success targeting Russian warships with missiles and drones. Last year, its forces sank the Russian flagship, the Moskva.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry issued a warning to shipping operators and other countries that any attempt to bypass the blockade could be seen as an act of war, saying ships bound for Ukrainian ports would be considered “potential carriers of military cargo.”
The escalation in the Black Sea pushed US wheat futures higher on Thursday, after they jumped 8.5% on Wednesday, the fastest one-day rise since the early days of Russia’s invasion in February last year.
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