Category: Black Sea

Ships En Route to Ukrainian Seaports to Be Considered Hostile, Moscow Warns

As of July 20, Russia will consider all maritime vessels en route to Ukrainian Black Sea ports as potentially carrying military cargoes, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. The announcement comes two days after Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which had allowed Ukraine to export grain—despite ongoing hostilities—through the Black Sea. “Given…


Pentagon Releases Video of Russian Fighter Jet Struck US Drone | Facts Matter

The U.S. Air Force declassified the official video footage from the unmanned drone that was taken down over the Black Sea. According to the footage, it appears that the American side of this story was accurate: the Russians indeed dumped fuel on and hit the propeller of the $32 million American drone before it fell…


Romanian Military Neutralizes Stray Naval Mine Discovered in Black Sea: Defense Ministry

The Romanian military on March 28 neutralized a stray naval mine discovered roughly 43 miles offshore in the Black Sea, the defense ministry said. Romania shares a border along the Black Sea with Bulgaria, Turkey, and Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces on Feb. 24. The device was first spotted by a fisherman who reported…


Russia Warns Naval Mines Placed in Black Sea Allegedly by Ukraine Forces Have Gone Adrift

Russia issued a formal maritime warning saying that a number of naval mines that were placed in the Black Sea—allegedly by Ukrainians in efforts to counter Moscow’s invasion—are no longer attached to their anchors and could drift toward the Straits of Bosphorus and the Mediterranean Sea. In a press statement on Saturday, Russia’s Federal Security…


Russian Forces Killed 13 Ukrainian Soldiers Refusing to Leave Tiny Island

More than a dozen Ukrainian soldiers were killed while defending a tiny island located in the Black Sea after they refused to surrender to Russians threatening to bomb them. Ukraine on Thursday lost contact with its forces on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island—a roughly 40-acre speck of land located south of the port of Odessa—after Russia conducted strikes from air…


Ukraine Responds to Russian Military Drills in Belarus by Holding Its Own

Russia and Belarus have begun joint military exercises close to Belarus’s borders near Ukraine, further inflaming tensions in the region and triggering Kyiv to conduct its own military exercises in response. The Russia–Belarus military drill, which began on Feb. 10, will reportedly last for 10 days. Moscow has committed 30,000 troops while almost the entirety…


The Iron Curtain Trail

For almost half a century, Europe was forcibly divided into east and west by the Iron Curtain, a border stretching from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. For 40 years, the Iron Curtain has been the symbol of division between people—2 sides, 2 blocks. In the middle lay a frontier of wire mesh, walls,…


Black Sea Drills Showcase Strong NATO-Ukraine Defense Ties

ABOARD USS ROSS—Ukraine and NATO have conducted Black Sea drills involving dozens of warships in a two-week show of their strong defense ties and capability following a confrontation between Russia’s military forces and a British destroyer off Crimea last month. The Sea Breeze 2021 maneuvers that ended Saturday involved about 30 warships and 40 aircraft…


Russia Says It Is Tracking Spanish Naval Ship in Black Sea

MOSCOW—Russia is tracking a Spanish naval ship in the Black Sea, the Interfax news agency cited Russia’s defense ministry as saying on Wednesday, as Ukraine and NATO countries both held Military Drills in the area. The ministry said the Spanish ship had entered the Black Sea on Wednesday to take part in the Sea Breeze…


Russian Warplanes Practice Bombing Enemy Ships in Black Sea Drills

MOSCOW—Russian warplanes practiced bombing enemy ships in the Black Sea during training exercises, Russia said on Saturday, amid friction with the West over NATO drills in the region and following a recent incident with a British warship. Moscow last week challenged the right of HMS Defender to pass through waters near Crimea, something London said…