The Latest Breaking News from Black Sea

Turkey oil tanker logjam snarls Russia oil sanctions

Turkey emerged as a critical stumbling block to a complex international plan to deprive Russia of wartime oil revenues as the number of tankers waiting to exit the Black Sea through Turkish straits continued to rise on Friday.

Reuters · Dec 9, 2022

Ukraine war: why the Kinburn spit is of vital military significance and opens up the recapture of Crimea

The Kinburn spit, a tiny headland at the mouth of the Dniepro river, has been described as having “enormous strategic importance” in the next phase of the Ukraine war. Ukraine has indicated its intention to liberate it and an operation seems to be under way to do so.

The Conversation · Dec 8, 2022

Ukraine detains couple suspected of spying for Russia in Odesa

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has detained a married couple suspected of spying for Russia in the Black Sea city of Odesa, one of Ukraine's largest ports.

Reuters · Dec 8, 2022

Ukraine's Odesa votes to remove Catherine the Great statue

The city council in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa has voted to remove and relocate a monument to Empress Catherine the Great of Russia that had recently been daubed with red paint at least twice.

Reuters · Nov 30, 2022

Russia denies slowing inspections for Ukraine grain ships

Russia's ambassador to Turkey said on Friday that Moscow sends its representatives to more ship inspections in Istanbul per day than mandated under the Black Sea grain deal, rejecting a Ukrainian accusation that Russia is slowing down the process.

Reuters · Nov 25, 2022

Exclusive-Russians, Ukrainians met in UAE to discuss prisoner swap, ammonia, sources say

Representatives from Russia and Ukraine met in the United Arab Emirates last week to discuss the possibility of a prisoner-of-war swap that would be linked to a resumption of Russian ammonia exports, which go to Asia and Africa, via a Ukrainian pipeline, three sources with knowledge of the meeting said.

Reuters · Nov 24, 2022

Air Defenses Activated in Crimea, Two Drones Shot Down

Russian air defenses were activated on Tuesday in the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and two drones were shot down, the regional governor said in a statement, urging people to keep calm. Sevastopol is the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet. Russia blamed…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Nov 22, 2022

Buoyed by southern success, Ukraine revives long-shot dream of retaking Crimea

ODESA, Ukraine — Beneath a chill, low-lying fog, the Black Sea has gone winter-gray. The craggy coast of Crimea, illegally seized from Ukraine by Russia nearly nine years ago, lies far from this southern stretch of seashore — yet, to many here, the strategic peninsula suddenly seems tantalizingly close.

Los Angeles Times · Nov 22, 2022

Bulgaria to let Russian oil refinery export despite EU ban

Bulgaria will allow a Black Sea refinery owned by a Russian oil company to keep operating and exporting oil products to the European Union until the end of 2024 despite warnings by Brussels that it is against the bloc’s sanctions

The Independent UK · Nov 22, 2022

Russian commanders ‘worried about threat to amphibious flotilla’ after Ukraine strike

Russian commanders are “concerned” about threats to their amphibious ship flotilla after Ukraine’s army attacked their Black Sea port terminal, British defence chiefs have said.

Evening Standard · Nov 22, 2022