Russia is threatening civilian vessels in the Black Sea, more than a week after the Kremlin reneged on a U.N.-backed deal to allow Kyiv to export grain across the Black Sea, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said.
“Russian warships are threatening civilians in the waters of the Black Sea, violating all norms of international maritime law,” Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said on Telegram on Friday.
Yermak added that these are the “methods of terrorists” and asked the international community to condemn the Russians’ actions.
Earlier, Ukraine’s state border guard service said it had intercepted a warning from a Russian warship to a civilian vessel passing near a Ukrainian port.
“Russian warships continue to act aggressively and defiantly in the waters of the Black Sea, violating all norms of international maritime law,” said the border guard.
After pulling out of the grain deal and starting a series of air attacks on Ukraine’s ports, Russia warned that “all ships going across the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered potential carriers of military-purpose cargoes” — meaning they could be subject to attack.
In response to the threat, Ukraine warned that all ships sailing to Russian-controlled Black Sea ports could be targeted by attacks.