Russia Opens Fire on Cargo Vessel in Black Sea
MOSCOW, Aug 13 (Reuters) – In a significant escalation of tensions, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea on Sunday. This marks the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark UN-brokered grain deal last month.
The incident comes after Russia halted its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, which allowed Ukraine to export agricultural produce via the Black Sea. Moscow justified its decision by claiming that all ships heading to Ukrainian waters could potentially be carrying weapons.
According to a statement from Russia, the Vasily Bykov patrol ship fired automatic weapons on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship’s captain failed to respond to a request to halt for an inspection. The vessel was reportedly heading towards the Ukrainian port of Izmail, although Refinitiv shipping data showed it was near the coast of Bulgaria and heading towards the Romanian port of Sulina.
“To forcibly stop the vessel, warning fire was opened from automatic weapons,” stated the Russian defense ministry. The Russian military then boarded the vessel with the assistance of a Ka-29 helicopter. After completing their inspection, the Sukru Okan continued on its way to the port of Izmail.
A Turkish defense ministry official confirmed that an incident had taken place involving a ship heading for Romania and stated that Ankara was looking into the matter. Reuters was unable to reach the vessel or its owners for comment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s senior adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, condemned the incident as a “clear violation of international law of the sea, an act of piracy, and a crime against civilian vessels of a third country in the waters of other states.” He added that Ukraine would draw the necessary conclusions and choose the best possible response.
Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the southern military command, emphasized that the Russian statement had not been confirmed by other official sources. She called for attention to be drawn to the incident and the peculiarities of hybrid warfare, stating that this could be a signal to all civilian vessels in the Black Sea. Humeniuk called for transportation and navigation in the region to be conducted under international guarantees and criticized Russia’s attempt to assert its right to stop a ship or deploy aircraft in the Black Sea without facing consequences.
The firing on a merchant vessel raises concerns among shipowners, insurers, and commodity traders about the potential dangers of operating in the Black Sea. Both Russia and Ukraine are major players in the agricultural markets, including wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed, sunflower oil, and fertilizers. Since Russia left the Black Sea grain deal, tensions have escalated, with both countries issuing warnings and carrying out attacks that have affected global commodity, oil, and shipping markets.
Russia has declared that it will treat any ships approaching Ukrainian ports as potential military vessels and their flag countries as combatants on the Ukrainian side. Ukraine has responded with a similar threat to ships approaching Russian or Russian-held Ukrainian ports. The actions of both countries have raised concerns about a de-facto blockade of Ukrainian ports, which could disrupt the flow of wheat and sunflower seeds to world markets.
Russia dismisses these claims and argues that the West failed to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertilizer exports.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow, Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara, and Dan Peleschuk in Kyiv; Editing by Nick Macfie and Diane Craft
