Attacks in the Black Sea are rippling far beyond Ukraine's shoreline. Russia's stepped-up attacks on cargo ships near Odesa have effectively frozen traffic at Ukraine's main ports, threatening to trap millions of tons of grain at the start of harvest and disrupt global food supplies. Ukrainian officials say at least 50 merchant vessels were struck in June and July, with more than 30 civilians killed, part of what Dmytro Barinov, president of the Ukrainian Ports Association, calls "professional hunting for civilian vessels," the New York Times reports. Last year, only 14 attacks on vessels were reported.
The commander of a Ukrainian patrol division says Russian drones linger off the coast, searching for cargo vessels. The commander says that after initial strikes, drones often target rescuers. Ukraine is hitting back, targeting Russian-linked tankers and, this week, the key grain export hub of Novorossiysk. Both Ukraine and Russia claim they are only striking military-related targets, Reuters reports. Analysts say that while Russian-linked oil tankers and other ships are technically civilian ships, Ukraine targets them because Russia uses them to dodge sanctions and fund the war, the Times reports.
Maritime experts warn the escalating duel is undermining basic assumptions about safe passage at sea, as drones and missiles turn commercial shipping lanes into a front line in the Black Sea and elsewhere. After Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports in the months after its invasion in 2022 threatened to cause a food crisis, a deal was struck to allow grain exports—and by the time it fell apart, Ukraine had forced Russian warships out of the area, the Times reports. New weapons, however, have made it much easier to hit cargo ships from far away.
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