Ukraine seizes initiative from Russia in the Black Sea, says Zelensky

KYIV - President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine has seized the initiative from Russia in the Black Sea and forced Russia’s naval fleet and warships to pull back, thanks to

Kyiv’s use of naval drones.

“For the first time in the world, it was in the Black Sea that a fleet of naval drones began to operate – a Ukrainian fleet,” Mr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“We managed to seize the initiative from Russia in the Black Sea,” he said.

Mr Zelensky added that since the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow had blocked the Ukrainian Black Sea ports and damaged port and grain export infrastructure, disrupting global food markets.

Yet over the course of the war, Ukraine shifted the balance of power, Mr Zelensky said, and he thanked Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, which border the Black Sea, for their support.

“We were able to show that cooperation between the countries of the Black Sea region, with partners’ support, can return stability to the world food market,” Mr Zelensky said at a meeting of representatives of the Black Sea countries.

“We were able to provide such protection to the western part of the Black Sea, which now allows our maritime export corridors to operate. The Danube region is also gaining new importance – it is also critical for global security.”

After Moscow quit the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed for the safe passage of grains out of Ukraine, a leading global grain exporter and grower, Kyiv set up an alternative corridor in August.

Ukraine has been

able to export four million tonnes of cargo

through that new corridor, Mr Zelensky said previously.

Russia intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian seaports and grain infrastructure, but Ukraine launched sea-drone attacks on Russian ships. REUTERS