Navy vessels trained in intercepting trespassers in a no-go zone
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has conducted an exercise in enforcing a naval blockade, the Defense Ministry reported on Friday. The drills come after Russia and Ukraine declared that they would presume all civilian ships traveling to each other’s ports to be carrying military cargo.
According to the Russian ministry’s statement, warships and naval aviation “trained in isolating an area that was temporarily suspended for traffic” and “conducted measures to detain a [simulated] trespassing vessel.”
During the same exercise, a Russian patrol boat fired cruise missiles at a target ship placed on a training range. It was successfully hit and destroyed, the ministry reported.
On Monday, Russia declined to extend the Black Sea Initiative, a UN and Türkiye-mediated arrangement with Ukraine, which allowed Kiev to export grain via its seaports. Moscow said the UN had failed to deliver on its part of the bargain and convince Western nations to lift sanctions hampering Russian exports of food and fertilizers.