Russian troops damaged 28 vessels heading to and from Greater Odesa ports in a month, which is about 11-12% of their total number, resulting in the deaths of 21 sailors and injuries to 34 others, but Ukraine should still avoid another "maritime truce," believes Andriy Klymenko, an expert with the monitoring group of the Black Sea Strategic Studies Institute.
"A 'maritime truce' ... is beneficial only to Russia. We believe and hope that our military will quickly find how to protect maritime traffic from Zmiinyi (Snake) Island to Odesa from air attacks," Klymenko wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
He explained that for Russia, the Black Sea has become the main direction for exporting "surpluses" of crude oil generated due to massive damage to oil refineries (NPZs), and the volumes of such exports currently amount to 7-8 million tonnes per month.
The expert predicted the emergence of a "bunch of 'peacemakers' across the Black Sea" who, along with ecologists "and our useful idiots," will promote a "maritime truce." In his opinion, such peacemakers are little interested in Ukraine's fate – their primary goal is to protect their own interests, including gas production in offshore fields.
Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky stated on July 22 that the latest enemy strikes on port infrastructure and vessels, especially the shelling with three missiles of a ship carrying corn on July 19, which killed 10 sailors, led to a temporary halt in the entry of vessels for agricultural products into Ukraine's Black Sea ports.
He acknowledged that the suspension of agricultural product shipments through Black Sea ports could affect sentiments and become the basis for price speculations, so he urged farmers to refrain from hasty decisions.
At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy expressed hope that the situation will be resolved in a fairly short period of time.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha reported, Ukraine has initiated a UN Security Council meeting for July 27 following the suspension of vessel movement through the maritime corridor in the Black Sea.
