Ukraine has managed to restore the operation of the ports of Great Odesa without the participation of third parties, thanks to the attacks on the Black Sea Fleet of Russia. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure, announced this.
“So, and now – a lot has happened in the Black Sea, which did not happen before significant damage to the landing ship near Novorossiysk and many, many other things. Military parity in the Black Sea has not yet been established, but the situation is definitely not the same as it was six months ago,” Kubrakov said.
The United Kingdom confirms that Ukrainian forces managed to defeat the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.
“Yes, Ukraine’s progress is slow, but no one can say that it does not exist. You can point to the Kharkiv breakthrough as an example of success. But look at what Ukraine has now done in the Black Sea! Ukraine has achieved the functional defeat of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” said UK junior defence minister James Heappey.
The UK Defence Intelligence also stated that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet will not be able to have the same control over the Black Sea as before, and its ships will feel less safe in ports after a series of successful attacks by Ukraine.
Currently, all three Black Sea ports of Ukraine have resumed accepting ships for grain export, despite Russia’s threat to fire at ships heading to Ukrainian ports, Bloomberg writes.
“The ships’ passage signals that Ukraine’s daring bet to set up its own trade route after the collapse of a safe-corridor agreed with Russia has paid off,” the journalists say.
The first 10 ships have already used the corridor, which Ukraine opened after Russia refused to renew the grain agreement despite threats to sink ships going to Ukrainian ports.
“We understand that some incidents may happen, the war continues. … If something happens to our civilian ship, we will not talk about it, but we have something to answer for – there are military goals, there are other goals, and the enemy also understands this dangerous edge,” Kubrakov said.
Cover: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP/Getty Images
