OSINT: Civilian vessels break Russian Black Sea blockade en route to Ukrainian ports.

At least six civilian ships heading toward Ukrainian ports entered the Black Sea on July 30 despite the Russian blockade, based on naval tracking data. Open-source investigator (OSINT) Markus Jonsson first reported[1] on three civilian vessels - Ams1, Sahin 2, and Yilmaz Kaptan/Kudret Gezer, sailing from Israel, Greece, and Turkey/Georgia - heading across the Black Sea, "openly advertising destination Ukraine." Ams1 and Sahin 2 passed through the Bosporus Strait, while Yilmaz Kaptan sailed west from northern Turkey.

Jonsson later corroborated his report with satellite imagery. Later on July 30, three more ships - Sealock, Bosphorus Queen, and Afer - set off through the Black Sea toward Ukrainian ports. All of the six vessels are reportedly under Turkish management but sailing under various foreign flags, Jonsson said.

According to naval tracking data, Ams1, the first ship to break Russia's Black Sea blockade, is scheduled[2] to arrive in Ukraine's Dabune port of Izmail on Aug.

1 at around 2 p.m. local time. The other vessels appear to be anchored not far away from the Ukrainian port town of Sulina. Jonsson noted that the vessels were monitored by a U.S.

P8 anti-ship aircraft and a Forte12 RQ-4 reconnaissance drone. Russia instituted a de-facto blockade of the Black Sea after its unilateral termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, preventing Ukraine from exporting its grain. Moscow threatened[3] that all vessels heading toward Ukrainian ports will be treated as potential carriers of military cargo and that all ships on the Black Sea will be inspected[4].

Russian forces launched[5] attacks against Ukraine's ports at the Danube River at Izmail and Reni on July 24. The ports are only 200 meters from the Romanian border.

Timothy Ash: Solutions need to be found for grain exports On July 17, 2023, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The initiative was originally brokered in August 2022 by Turkey between Russia and Ukraine. It had been successful in facilitating the export of 32.5 million tonnes of grain out of Ukrainian ports, leaving in over 1,

[6] Martin Fornusek

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press.

He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

  1. ^ reported (twitter.com)
  2. ^ scheduled (www.marinetraffic.com)
  3. ^ threatened (kyivindependent.com)
  4. ^ inspected (kyivindependent.com)
  5. ^ launched (kyivindependent.com)
  6. ^ Timothy Ash: Solutions need to be found for grain exportsOn July 17, 2023, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The initiative was originally brokered in August 2022 by Turkey between Russia and Ukraine.

    It had been successful in facilitating the export of 32.5 million tonnes of grain out of Ukrainian ports, leaving in over 1, (kyivindependent.com)

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