Russia threatens ships in Black Sea after ending grain deal

Following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal, Russia said if a foreign ship in the Black Sea sails to a Ukrainian port, Russia’s navy will treat that ship as hostile. Russia went on to say the flagged country of those ships will be treated as a Ukrainian ally.

The Russian Ministry of Defense issued the threat on its Telegram social media channel on July 19. The ministry said Russia’s military will assume all foreign ships sailing to Ukraine are carrying weapons.

Brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, the Black Sea grain deal guaranteed safe passage to ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports through the Turkish Straits and onto markets primarily in Africa and the Middle East. The deal was in place for more than a year, and went through several extensions.

Without Ukrainian grain, millions of people will starve. Before Vladimir Putin launched his invasion, Ukraine produced enough grain to feed 400 million people worldwide.

To prevent mass starvation, NATO may step in to escort civilian ships in the Black Sea. Adm. James Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, said Russia’s new policy toward foreign ships could lead to Russian and NATO forces squaring off in the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s willing to broker a deal with Turkey to keep food and fertilizer flowing. Turkey hasn’t responded yet, but it won’t be all that surprising if Turkish President Recep Erdogan takes up Zelenskyy’s offer.

Erdogan closed the Turkish Straits to any warships at the start of the Ukraine war. While Turkey has been somewhat of a problematic partner in NATO before, the country’s leadership seems to be leaning into the alliance lately.

The Turkish Armed Forces navy is almost 200 hulls strong, making it the unrivaled dominant naval power in the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Turkish Armed Forces sail frigates, submarines, missile boats, and landing craft. Turkey’s new flagship, the TCG Anadolu, is an amphibious assault ship that can also serve as a light aircraft carrier for Turkey’s fleet of Bayraktar drones.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet suffered considerable losses since the war started, including its flagship, the Moskva. New intelligence shows Russia is laying additional sea mines near Ukrainian ports. White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said Russia may try to use the mines to attack civilian ships and blame it on Ukraine.

Moscow pulled out of the grain deal because it said specific conditions still hadn’t been met. The Kremlin said it wanted better terms for its own food and fertilizer sales.

For three nights in a row after the grain deal collapsed, Russia attacked Ukraine’s port infrastructure in Odessa and Mykolaiv. The facilities attacked held a million tons of grain that were supposed to be sent to Africa, according to Zelenskyy. Another 60,000 tons of grain meant for China was destroyed in Russian strikes.

In his nightly address Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s ports proved “their target is not only Ukraine, and not only the lives of our people.”

Reuters contributed to this report.