Kyiv has reacted angrily to Russian personnel searching a civilian cargo vessel on its way to a Ukrainian port. One maritime expert told Newsweek that the incident was an act of "piracy on the high seas."
Video shows the dramatic moments filmed on Sunday in the southwestern Black Sea of a Russian Ka-29 helicopter flying next to the commercial vessel Sukru Okan. It was sailing under the flag of the Pacific Ocean island country of Palau. Newsweek has been unable to verify the details of the clip.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that its Vasily Bykov patrol ship had fired warning shots at the vessel, which was then checked by its personnel before being allowed to continue to the port of Izmail in Odesa.
On July 19, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that all vessels sailing to Ukrainian ports would be viewed as potential military cargo carriers and the flag countries of such vessels considered as taking Kyiv's side in the conflict. This followed its departure from a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed the safe passage through the Black Sea of Ukrainian grain.
However, Yörük Işık, from the Bosphorus Observer maritime consultancy based in Istanbul, told Newsweek that Russia does not have enough assets to implement a full blockade and so chose a target of convenience.
Işık added that it was notable that the incident did not take place near Crimea, near the port city of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea in southern Russia, "not even near Ukraine—they are almost in Turkish waters.
"This is an unacceptable event by all international standards, and it is time to have a more meaningful presence against Russia," said Işık, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute.
"This is an insignificant vessel. Where do they find the right to board vessels, on what legal basis? This is not a legitimate operation—this is piracy in the high seas."
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also described on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Russian move as an act of piracy, as well as "a clear violation of international law of the sea."
Podolyak added that Russia's move was "a crime against civilian vessels of a third country in the waters of other states." The Ukrainian foreign affairs ministry accused Russia of provocative actions and called on the international community to act, per Reuters.
Gabrielle Reid, associate director at security intelligence firm S-RM, told Newsweek that Russia's tactics would allow them to display influence over strategic maritime chokepoints.
"With Russia using the maritime arena to bolster its influence, it is increasingly likely that we will see further disruption to commercial maritime operations through similar spot-inspections, though it is less likely that Russia would target merchant vessels in a targeted, armed attack," Reid said.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote how Russian forces had not stopped three other civilian ships heading to Ukraine on July 30. This suggested that Moscow "may be unable or unwilling to forcibly stop and search neutral vessels."
Sunday's move was likely to reimpose the threat of escalation on civilian vessels sailing to Ukraine. It also would undermine confidence in the temporary trading corridors through the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports that Kyiv's officials had announced on August 10, the ISW said.
The U.S.-based think tank added that Russian naval posturing in the Black Sea seeks to create a chilling effect on civilian maritime traffic to Ukraine without Moscow committing Black Sea Fleet assets to a naval blockade, especially after last month's Ukrainian strikes on Russian naval targets.
Drone attacks on the Black Sea fleet ship Olenegorsky Gornyak, near Novorossiysk port and on the Russian tanker SIG took place in consecutive days.
"Bastards and degenerates understand only cruelty and force," Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russian president between 2008 and 2012, wrote on Telegram.
Referring to the "scum" in Kyiv, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council added that Ukraine was risking an ecological catastrophe in the Black Sea, apparently referring to the risk of an oil spill from attacks on shipping.
Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment on Monday.
Update 08/14/23, 8:52 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Gabrielle Reid, associate director at security intelligence firm S-RM.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
