Putin’s Black Sea blockade is a sham - here's why | Defence in Depth

On August 13, Russian troops fired warning shots in front of a merchant vessel in the Black Sea before boarding the ship.

Ukraine said it was a clear violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and called on the international community to take action.

It was a worrying episode but Kyiv had an even bigger problem - Russia was entirely within its rights to act as it had.

And there’s more. Having pulled out of the grain deal, Russia is desperate for the world to think they’ve put a blockade on Ukrainian ports when actually none exists.

In this episode of Defence in Depth, Dominic Nicholls, The Telegraph’s associate editor, explains how Russia is trying to secure a de facto naval blockade of Ukraine without taking on the responsibility for enforcing one; and, even if Russia had the means to hold a blockade, why Vladimir Putin wouldn’t want to upset his friend in Beijing.

#russia #navy #ukraine #putin

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