Cargo ships defy Russian threats to sail across Black Sea

Putin visits southern military district HQ in Rostov-on-Don

Two cargo ships left Ukraine on a perilous journey across the Black Sea today in defiance of Russian threats, maritime officials have confirmed.

Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next week for tense discussion about Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in a UN-brokered grain export deal.

The Anna-Theresa, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier laden with 56,000 tons of pig iron, left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny on Friday and is now approaching Bulgarian territorial waters, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

A second ship, the Ocean Courtesy, sailing under a Marshall Islands flag, left the same port on Friday with 172,000 tons of iron ore concentrate.

That vessel arrived at the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta shortly before noon on Saturday, according to the global ship tracking website MarineTraffic.

READ MORE: Russia and Turkey gear up for showdown over control of Black Sea

The website does not state whether the vessel is set to move on from the Romanian port.

The two vessels sailed through a temporary corridor for civilian ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to the Bosporus, Mr Kubrakov said on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

The corridor goes along the western shores of the Black Sea, avoiding international waters and instead using instead those controlled by NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.

On Saturday, authorities at the Bulgarian port of Varna did not confirm whether the Anna-Theresa will enter the port or will continue to the Bosporus Strait.

The ships were the third and fourth vessels which used the interim corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia halted a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports from Ukraine.

The vessels had been docked in Ukrainian Black Sea ports since before Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Their departure coincided with the official announcement of a meeting on Monday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Erdogan would meet Monday in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.

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The high-level talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi come just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal brokered by Ankara and the UN which enable Ukrainian grain to reach world markets safely despite the 18-month war.

A Russian defence ministry statement issued last month warned: “All vessels sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo.”

Also today, Russia said its forces destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones being used in an attempt to attack a key bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea, forcing its temporary closure for a third time in less than a year.

One naval drone was destroyed late Friday and two others early Saturday morning, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.

A key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, the Kerch bridge has come under repeated attack since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

An explosion in October, which Russian authorities said was caused by a truck bomb, left three people dead. A further attack on the bridge in July, killing a couple and seriously wounding their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously.

The bridge connecting Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow, both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for military and civilian supplies and as an assertion of Kremlin control of the peninsula it annexed in 2014.

On Saturday afternoon, one civilian was killed and two wounded during shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Two Ukrainian drones attacked the region’s Valuysky district, causing minor damage to a private home and car, while another drone was intercepted by Russian air defence in the Grayvoronsky district.

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