Since the full-scale invasion began, 50 ships have been blocked in Ukrainian ports: 29 in the ports of Mykolaiv region, 14 in Kherson, five in occupied Mariupol, and two in Odesa, reported Andriy Klymenko, head of the monitoring group at the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies and editor-in-chief of BlackSeaNews, in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"As of February 24, 2022, the start of the major war, there were exactly 100 commercial ships in the ports of Ukraine on the Black and Azov seas, according to our own data. By the end of last year, after some blocked ships were able to leave the Odesa ports through a corridor created with UN assistance, 50 remained. Of these, 29 are in the ports of Mykolaiv region, 14 in Kherson, five in Mariupol. In Odesa ports, only two ships remain, one of which is arrested as it has a Russian owner," said Klymenko.

He noted that most of the ships remaining in Ukrainian ports belong to owners from Greece and Türkiye. Specifically, seven Turkish ships, eight Greek ships, two from Norway, and two from China are blocked in the Mykolaiv ports, with one each from Estonia, Denmark, Singapore, and the United Kingdom (based on shipowner registration).

"These are large sea vessels that arrived for cargo before the full-scale invasion but got stuck and still cannot leave. With the ships that remain in the ports of occupied Mariupol, the situation is hopeless for now," Klymenko said.

He emphasized that the blocked ships could leave ports located in controlled territory if the southern part of Kherson region and Crimea are de-occupied.

"Almost every day we hear about shelling in Ochakiv and the water area. Active fighting is ongoing there. How to unblock the ports? Crimea must be liberated. And, of course, the occupied part of Kherson region," Klymenko said.

He also pointed out that there is currently no complete understanding of the situation with the ships that remained in Kherson region after the flooding (caused by Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam on June 6, 2023). It is possible that many of these ships are either lost or will require repairs, he added.