Ukraine Expands Maritime Offensive, Disrupts Russian Sea Of Azov Traffic

Ukrainian drone strikes have severely disrupted Russian shipping in the Sea of Azov, with forces targeting more than 110 vessels over the past nine days, according to a Ukrainian military source, as Russia restricted maritime movement in the strategic waterway.

Drones operated by the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces' "Birds" unit had targeted 116 vessels in the Sea of Azov over the past nine days, said Major Robert Brovdi of the Ukrainian military. The vessels targeted included five tankers, five bulk carriers and one tugboat.

According to Reuters, Brovdi said the goal was to disable the vessels rather than sink them, leaving them adrift and unable to operate, to ultimately disrupt Russia's "feeder fleet" of small and medium-sized tankers used to transfer oil from ports connected to the Volga-Don Canal and the Sea of Azov to larger tankers waiting offshore in the Black Sea.

The attacks, he said, would complicate fuel deliveries to Crimea, forcing Russia to rely more heavily on road and rail transport, which are vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks.

Russia Restricts Shipping

Shipping in the Sea of Azov, the route for a quarter of Russia's grain exports, remained restricted on Tuesday for security reasons following the Ukrainian attacks on vessels in the area, three industry sources told Reuters. The restrictions on shipping entering and exiting the sea went into force on Friday, sending Euronext wheat up as much as 4% to a six-week high. Russia is the world's biggest wheat exporter and a major sunflower oil supplier.

One of the sources told Reuters commercial vessels could move freely in the Sea of Azov but could not enter or leave via the Kerch Strait, which links it to the Black Sea, or the Azov-Don channel, a navigable waterway connecting the Don River with the Sea of Azov. Russian authorities have not formally announced the curbs, the sources said.

Satellite images taken of the Kerch Strait showed more than 40 vessels waiting to cross on June 6, compared with just a handful in the area on July 11, according to the Reuters report.

Russia Accuses Ukraine Of 'Terrorism'

Russia accused Ukraine of terrorism over its escalating attacks on shipping in the Sea of Azov on Tuesday. Industry sources told Reuters that several grain ships were hit and caught fire.

"They are standing there like targets before a firing squad. In a couple of days, there won't be a single intact boat left in the Sea of Azov, only damaged ones," one of the sources told Reuters.

"What the Ukrainian regime is doing goes beyond even piracy. Pirates, at least, plunder and keep the spoils for themselves," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

A Ukrainian military source told Reuters: "The Ukrainian Armed Forces strike only military targets or targets that contribute to strengthening Russia's combat capability. Civilian cargoes are not among them. By talking about attacks on civilian vessels, Russia is looking for a pretext to justify its cynical strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure."

Air Defence Cooperation

The drone campaign in the Sea of Azov comes as Ukraine continues to bolster its air defence capabilities with the support of Western allies. Ukraine and its Western partners have launched an air defence coalition aimed at developing a cheaper alternative to the Patriot missile system, while Kyiv has also reached a political deal with the United States on Patriot missile production licences.