A year later the Black Sea becomes a war zone again after Russia closes the maritime corridor which guaranteed the safety of navigation and the transfer of ships with Ukrainian grain.
Ukraine had not had to worry about its coastline since July 22, 2022. Its back was well covered with the signing of the Istanbul Accords. Now, Russia once again has a free hand to pound the enemy coast as a prelude to a full-blown naval blockade. Nor has Moscow given up the idea of making Ukraine permanently landlocked after already turning the Azov into an inland sea.
Russia does not hide that one of the triggers for its decision to abandon the Black Sea Initiative on Monday, apart from the inability to export its fertilizers, have been the attacks perpetrated by Kiev against Crimea.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s patience was the explosion that occurred on Monday on the bridge linking the annexed peninsula with the Russian mainland, the second attack against said strategic infrastructure since the beginning of the war. In addition to the death of two civilians, the authorities had to suspend road traffic, a further demonstration that Moscow cannot guarantee the security of the territory that it annexed in 2014.
Moscow reacted angrily and heavily shelled terminals at major Ukrainian ports in the Odessa region, destroying cargoes of grain, including a 60,000-tonne cargo destined for China, among other Asian countries.