Responding to threats from Moscow, Kiev has warned that all ships calling at Russian-controlled Black Sea ports “could be viewed by Ukraine as transporting military cargo, with all the relevant risks.”
The warning, issued in a statement by Ukraine’s defense ministry on Thursday, says it will take effect at midnight on Friday (9:00 p.m. GMT on Thursday).
In its message, the Ukrainian ministry also recalled the fate of the Russian cruiser Moskva, which was sunk by missiles more than a year ago. The Ukrainian Navy has repeatedly used naval drones against the Russian Black Sea Fleet and probably also against the bridge to the Crimean Peninsula.
Russia had previously threatened ships calling at Ukrainian ports and withdrawn their previous security guarantees.
Russia said ships bound for Ukraine’s Black Sea ports would be considered potential military targets, as Kiev said it would set up a temporary shipping route to continue grain exports after Moscow pulled out of a deal allowing food supplies allowed from the ports of Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that it will consider all ships bound for Ukraine to be carrying potentially military cargo on behalf of Kiev and that “the flag countries of these ships will be considered parties to the Ukraine conflict.”
In a statement to news app Telegram, the Defense Ministry said it would implement its new stance on ships in the Black Sea from midnight Moscow time (Wednesday 21:00 GMT).
The Ministry of Defense did not say what measures it would take against ships heading to Ukraine.
Russia also said southeastern and northwestern parts of the Black Sea’s international waters are temporarily unsafe for shipping, the ministry said, without giving details on the parts of the sea that would be affected.
Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it would set up a temporary shipping route via Romania, one of the neighboring Black Sea states.
“The goal is to facilitate the unblocking of international shipping in the north-western part of the Black Sea,” said Vasyl Shkurakov, Ukraine’s acting minister of municipalities, territories and infrastructure development, in a letter to the United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization.
Reporting for Al Jazeera from Moscow, Yulia Shapovalova said that the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement addressed to all international ships calling at Ukrainian ports, stating that “at midnight on July 20, all ships calling at Ukrainian ports will be considered.” sailing in the Black Sea and approaching Ukrainian ports.” Bearers of military cargo involved in the Ukraine conflict on the Kiev side.”
The announcement from Moscow came on Wednesday, when a senior White House official said Russia was considering attacking civilian ships in the Black Sea and then blamed it on Ukrainian forces.
“Our information indicates that Russia has placed additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports,” White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement, the Associated Press news agency reported.
“We believe this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea and blame Ukraine for those attacks,” Hodge said.
Russia is using food as a “weapon of war,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also said on Wednesday, noting that Moscow had threatened ships in international waters for two consecutive days and attacked the Ukrainian port city of Odessa for two nights in a row.
“I think it should be clear to everyone in the world by now that Russia is using food as a weapon of war,” Miller told reporters. “Not only against the Ukrainian people, but against all people in the world, especially the least developed countries that depend on grains from the region,” he said.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the Russian warning to shipping “underscores that we are trying to operate and continue to operate” in a virtual war zone.
Black Sea grain deal
At the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Ukraine’s Black Sea ports were blocked by warships until the United Nations-Turkey-brokered Black Sea Grains Agreement reopened Ukraine’s ports and exports of Ukrainian grain to world markets .
The Kremlin announced on Monday that it was withdrawing from the deal after months of complaining that a related deal, which would allow Russian food and fertilizer exports, had not been honored.
Moscow had also accused Ukraine of using the Black Sea Grain Corridor for “combat purposes”.
Russia’s withdrawal from the deal drew international condemnation as it reignited fears of rising grain and food prices. Poorer African countries in particular are dependent on Ukrainian grain.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said again on Wednesday that Moscow would not return to the year-old deal unless certain demands were met.
These include assurances that Russian fertilizer and food exports could reach the world market. The US and the European Union deny that their sanctions ban the export of the raw materials.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa for the second straight day.
Odessa was the main exit point for Ukrainian agricultural exports under the now-defunct Grains Agreement.
According to the Ukrainian military, port facilities with a grain terminal and an edible oil terminal, as well as storage tanks and ship loading facilities were hit. Warehouse buildings were destroyed in the city of Odessa, it said.
“Since the beginning of the large-scale attack, we have not seen such a large attack [Russian] invasion.” Odessa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said about 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed in the attacks on Odessa and Moscow deliberately attacked the port after withdrawing from the grain export agreement.
Today’s 🇷🇺 terrorist attack on Odessa proves that their goal is not only 🇺🇦 and not only the life of our people. About a million tons of food are stored in the ports attacked today. This is the amount that should have been shipped to consuming countries in Africa… pic.twitter.com/7jbz9TaqKg
— Volodimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) July 19, 2023
“Russian terrorists are deliberately targeting the Grains Agreement infrastructure, and every Russian missile is a blow not just to Ukraine but to everyone around the world who aspires to normal and safe life,” he wrote on Telegram.
Zelenskyy later used his nightly address to the nation on Wednesday to call on Western partners to help Ukraine strengthen its air defenses to counter attacks like the one in Odessa.