According to a Reuters source, Kyiv has not yet received a response to its proposal.
Hunting Russian ships
In recent months, Ukraine has started hunting Russian ships in the Azov and Black Seas using drones, aiming to cut off supplies to Crimea and disrupt oil exports by the “shadow fleet” tankers.
Read more The priest from Argentina who became a legend leaves Pumpėnai: there may never be another like him
In recent days, strikes have expanded to grain terminals in Novorossiysk, container ships have been shelled, as well as the Caspian pipeline consortium terminal and ships carrying Kazakh oil.
Russia, in turn, has begun attacking not only ports in the Odessa region but also civilian ships directly entering them, including those from foreign countries. The strikes are carried out with ballistic missiles, which Ukraine’s air defense cannot defend against due to the lack of American “Patriot” interceptors, writes The Moscow Times.
Fear: very few ships are arriving in Odessa
In July, about 15 ships called at Odessa ports per day, but by the end of the month, this number had dropped to one or two, the co-owner and CEO of Ukraine’s largest private port operator “Transinvestservice,” Andriy Stavnicer, told the Financial Times. According to Kpler data, shipping completely stopped in August.
In June and July, according to Ukrainian authorities, the Russian military attacked at least 50 cargo ships, killing more than 30 people, writes The New York Times. Among them was the dry cargo ship “Golden Leo,” which left the port of Chornomorsk on July 19 with a grain cargo.
As NYT reported, second officer Blesson Sebastian from India, who has visited Ukraine many times over the past eight months, said that the intensity of Russian attacks this last time was much greater than he had ever seen on previous voyages.
When “Golden Leo” was 6.4 km away from the port, a Russian missile hit its hull. Ten crew members and a Ukrainian pilot were killed in the attack, and the ship sank.
Read more Nausėda promises to speak about the scandal that shook Lithuania
In turn, Ukrainian drones, besides attacking Russian “shadow fleet” tankers, attacked Turkish ships and sank the Indian company “Fesco” container ship “Janina” near Novorossiysk. After this incident, one of Russia’s largest container shipping companies ceased voyages through the Black Sea.
Paralyzed Russian grain export
Moreover, Ukrainian attacks have paralyzed the main Russian grain export channel. On Thursday, the largest Novorossiysk grain terminal KSK (annual capacity – 9 million tons) stopped operations. Unloading of trucks and railway wagons and loading of grain onto ships were halted.
The day before, NZT (Novorossiysk grain terminal) and NKXP (Novorossiysk bread products plant), with annual capacities of 8.5 and 7.1 million tons respectively, stopped operations. The first terminal was heavily damaged, and the loading gallery collapsed at the second.
Already in July, before the recent events, exports through the Black and Azov Sea terminals, which are the main route for Russian grain exports, shrank by 22.8% – to 1.8 million tons, Reuters reports, citing industry sources.
According to agency data, Ukrainian grain exports fell by 75% in the first two weeks of August compared to the same period in 2025. Economists estimate that a complete halt of Black Sea port operations could cost Ukraine 1–1.5% of GDP, notes the Financial Times.
Read more Latvian Defense Minister: the decision to shoot down the drone was made to protect the residents
