Ukraine accuses Russia of holding Black Sea grain corridor hostage as no vessels enter Odesa

Tu-160 Bomber from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Speaks Out

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has accused Russia of "holding global food security hostage" following a series of attacks on civilian cargo ships in the Black Sea.

"At least three civilian cargo ships have been bombed in the past few days by Russia. A few dozen crew members have been killed and injured," Minister Sybiha said in a social media post.

"Today, zero vessels passed through Ukraine's Black Sea maritime corridor—right at peak harvest. This is deliberate economic and humanitarian terror," he added. "Just as Iran targeted energy routes in the Strait of Hormuz, Russia is now targeting global food markets in the Black Sea."

Sybiha stated that Ukraine has requested a UN Security Council meeting to address the situation on July 27, next Monday.

"No country has the right to starve the world. Global pressure can stop Russian terror," the minister added.

Shipping Traffic Halts

According to Politico, no ships entered any of the three Ukrainian ports in the Odesa region on Wednesday—the first time that had happened since the corridor was established in 2023.

Shipping giant Maersk announced a halt to operations in Chornomorsk Fishing Port, redirecting traffic instead to Romania's Constanta Port.

"Previously, there had also been many hits on ships, but most of them concerned ships already docked in ports," Andrii Klymenko, head of the Black Sea and Baltic Strategic Research Monitoring Group, told Politico.

Key Differences in Maritime Strategy

Ukraine's Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk highlighted a crucial difference between Russian and Ukrainian naval operations.

"The war in the sea never stopped. We have already been in a similar situation. Yes, pressure increased, and yes, shipping companies see risks and reduce operations. But we will keep working to restore maximum capacity of our maritime corridor," Pletenchuk said, per Politico.

Ukraine Targets "Russia's Amazon"

The New York Times reported on Thursday about Ukraine's latest strategic move: attacks on Wildberries, Russia's leading e-commerce retailer, described as "a campaign to bring the conflict home to ordinary Russians."

Key details from the report:

• Ukraine has launched a series of drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses
• The attacks have negatively affected small business owners who sell through the retailer
• Five warehouses belonging to Wildberries, as well as storage sites for other large retailers, have been hit
• Russian authorities reported eight people killed in attacks on Saturday and one person on Wednesday
• The Saturday strikes alone wiped out between 6 and 9 percent of Wildberries' storage capacity

While Russian President Vladimir Putin "has signaled no intention of backing away from his objectives in the conflict, and the economy, while weakened by the war, is not on the verge of collapse," the Times noted that continued Ukrainian attacks could "pose severe economic challenges on top of a range of other war-related strains, reducing tax collections and adding to inflation."

Wildberries claims a policy of not selling "military-grade weapons," but the retailer does sell items that could be used for military purposes, such as commercial drones and fiber-optic cables.

"The company itself and all the sellers will likely pay less in taxes than last year, and given the size, it might be pretty substantial, especially at a time when the Russian budget is experiencing a widening deficit," Alexander Kolyandr, director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, told the Times.

Citing reports from Kommersant and Forbes Russia, the Times stated that the Saturday attacks on Wildberries "destroyed goods worth almost as much as Wildberries' entire profit last year."

About the Author: Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Phila.