As of: February 1, 2024, 7:54 a.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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Split
Ukraine has found a way to outwit the Russian blockade in the Black Sea.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin's fleet was decimated ship by ship.
Odessa – The Ukraine War has long been a story of setbacks and mishaps for Russia in the Black Sea.
The loss of the flagship “Moskva” in April 2022 is an example of Moscow’s difficulties in the waters that the Kremlin actually wants to control.
Ukraine War: Russia has lost control of the Black Sea
It's not just that the Black Sea Fleet's military losses are high: As the British weekly newspaper
The Economist
now reports, the Russian blockade of the Ukrainian grain trade through the Bosphorus towards the Mediterranean has now largely fizzled out.
With 6.3 million tons, the three Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny shipped almost as much goods and grain in December as before the Russian attack on the neighboring country to the west, which violated international law.
It is the next defeat for autocrat Vladimir Putin in the geopolitical struggle over Ukraine.
In the Ukraine war, many things don't go according to plan: Moscow autocrat Vladimir Putin.
© IMAGO/Vyacheslav Prokofyev
Russian Black Sea Fleet: Devastating losses at sea and Crimea
From Kiev's perspective, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has been pushed back from the northwestern, southwestern and even central parts of the waters after devastating strikes against it in early 2024.
We are talking about 22 of Moscow's warships destroyed, sunk or (severely) damaged.
These losses were recently documented in a map that the Ukrainian online portal
The New Voice of Ukraine (NV)
published on its social media channels.
Several examples can be seen using photos or videos on X (formerly Twitter).
On December 26th, the large Russian landing ship “Novocherkassk” was destroyed in an air raid on the port city of Feodosiya.
It is now considered certain that the guided missile cruiser “Moskva” sank on April 14, 2022.
According to the US Department of Defense, two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles of the type “Neptune” were responsible for this.
Vladimir Putin's Black Sea Fleet: 22 warships destroyed or sunk
In September 2023, the Ukrainian Air Force also damaged the submarine “Rostov-on-Don” and the landing ship “Minsk” so much that they are no longer operational.
French Scalp cruise missiles were apparently used in this attack on the Sergo Ordzhonikidze shipyard in Sevastopol.
To name just the three best-known examples.
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Black Sea: Ukraine breaks Russia's naval blockade
The fact that the interim blockade of deep-sea trade has only lasted for a short time since July 2023 is likely to be a similarly severe blow to the Kremlin regime.
Among other things, Ukraine placed all freighter traffic under a central maritime command.
“We connect traders with emergency services, environmental services, weather reports, missile attacks and air raid warnings,”
The Economist
quotes Yuriy Lytvyn, head of the Ukrainian Seaport Authority, as saying: “It’s a unique Lego puzzle, an insane amount of work.”
The Ukrainian border guard also meticulously controls the ports between the Danube Delta near the Romanian border, the city of Odessa (inhabited by around 990,000 people) and the village of Rybakivka in the south of the Ukrainian Mykolaiv Oblast, from where the northernmost tip of the Russian border is reached around the clock occupied Crimea are only ten kilometers away as the crow flies.
This is intended to deter possible Russian saboteurs.
Russian Black Sea blockade broken: NATO helps Ukraine
It is now also known: Ukraine is sending the huge cargo ships, actually designed for ocean shipping, from their ports through shallow waters near the Romanian and Bulgarian borders, apparently in close consultation with the transatlantic defense alliance NATO, whose presence protects the tankers from possible Russian ones protects against attacks.
Huge grain tankers are once again passing through the Black Sea from Odessa in Ukraine.
© IMAGO/Yulii Zozulia
Black Sea: Ukraine ships millions of tons of grain through the Bosphorus
Among other things, the NATO airport Konstanza (Constanta) is located directly on the Black Sea coast.
American F-16 and F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets are stationed at the neighboring Borcea air base, as is the 53rd Fighter Squadron of the Romanian Air Force, with all 14 F-16 fighter jets in the country.
Ukraine, which is heavily agricultural, exports millions of tons of corn from its vast grain stores, which accounts for around half of grain exports.
But also wheat (about a quarter), sunflower seeds (about ten percent) and other agricultural products.
According to the Council of the European Union, around two thirds of wheat goes to developing countries.
(pm)