Ukrainian Foreign Minister, direct accusations against Putin: “He threatens the freedom of navigation”
Ukraine says Russia is endangering the safety of navigation in the Black Sea after Vladimir Putin threatened to expand attacks against ships entering Ukrainian ports in the wake of recent strikes on oil tankers used to export Russian oil.
Andrii Sîbiga reacted harshly after Vladimir Putin's statements PHOTO: Facebook
Ukraine reacted harshly after repeated statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “For the second day in a row, Putin makes statements that prove that he does not intend to end the warAndrii Sîbiga wrote on the X network. The Ukrainian minister emphasized that Putin “he said yesterday that he is ready to fight all winter. Today, he threatens seaports and freedom of navigation”.
The statements came shortly after the Kremlin leader accused Ukraine of “piracy”, following drone attacks on Russian merchant ships in the Black Sea.
Putin's threats
Ahead of a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, Putin warned that Russia would “expands the range of strikes against ships entering Ukrainian ports“. He specified that the reprisals could target both Ukrainian ships and ships of Western states that would support the attacks, RBC Ukraine reports.
The Russian leader also threatened to “the complete cutting off of Ukraine's access to the Black Sea“.
Series of attacks on oil tankers
Two oil tankers, Kairos and Virat, under the flag of Gambia and part of the so-called “shadow fleet” used by Russia to circumvent Western sanctions, were hit by Ukrainian naval drones near the coast of Turkey, outside its territorial waters, on Friday evening. The Virat was hit again on Saturday morning. Both were traveling without cargo to the Russian port of Novorossiisk, where another drone strike knocked out an oil terminal.
A third oil tanker, the Panamanian-flagged Mersin but operated by a Turkish company, was damaged Thursday in the Atlantic near Senegal by four external explosions, the cause of which remains unclear.
Turkish authorities also reported an attack on a Russian ship carrying sunflower oil, but Ukraine denied any involvement.
The attacks on the Kairos and Virat oil tankers are the first on civilian ships officially recognized by Kiev since the beginning of the war. These raise the risk that Russia will respond in kind, although it is unlikely to strike merchant ships in the territorial waters of Turkey, Bulgaria or Romania, as such a gesture would amount to an attack on NATO states.
Turkey's reaction
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Monday of a “escalation worrisome“, declaring that the war “has clearly reached a level that threatens the safety of navigation in the Black SeaHe pointed out that Turkey “cannot accept these attacks under any circumstances, as they threaten the safety of navigation, the environment and life in our exclusive economic zone” and that Ankara “address the necessary warnings to all involved parties”.
