Ukrainian naval operations in the Black Sea may even be the “most successful aspect of the counteroffensive” Russia lost 20 percent of its Black Sea fleet in four months in the Ukraine war. Moscow wants to use a “defensive stance [...] to weaken Ukraine’s unconventional approach to naval warfare” Ukraine must continue to function as an economy; the country is one of the largest grain exporters in the world.
Russia is still able to attack Ukraine with ships in the relatively safe eastern Black Sea.