DW | The Black Sea's ROLE in Russia's war on Ukraine, 13 Sep Montreux Convention

The Black Sea was once a geopolitical afterthought in Europe. But that has changed since Russia launched its war against Ukraine. Now, many interests are colliding on the inland sea between Europe and Asia.
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archive EU triggers CRISIS FUND to bail out farmers hit by Ukraine grain

As a gateway to the rest of the world, the Black Sea has immense strategic and economic importance for both Russia and Ukraine. But other countries with coasts on the Black Sea—particularly the NATO members Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania—also have interests there.

5 Sep blockade busting Slava Ukraini! UPDATE

archive Mon Dec 7th 2015, Tue Mar 1st 2022, the 1936 accord, July 2022 "power to the councils"

yahoo! Kyiv Independent | UK planes ["]guard["] Ukrainian grain ships in Black Sea, 8 Sep

..."We will use our intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to monitor Russian activity in the Black Sea," the press release said. "As part of these surveillance operations, RAF aircraft are conducting flights over the area to deter Russia from carrying out illegal strikes against civilian vessels transporting grain."

On July 19, Russia said it would consider all ships sailing to Ukrainian ports to be military targets. Attacks on Ukrainian ports have increased again in recent days, with repeated missile strikes targeting ["]grain infrastructure["] in Odesa Oblast's Izmail district.

reuters | Ukraine increases farm exports by rail and truck as Black Sea ports are blocked (13.09.23)..."The most active crossing points in September were those between Ukraine and Poland," it said in a report. Brokers said the grain exports by rail via the Ukrainian-Polish border had also increased by 14% over the past week. "Romanian border crossings are used for 114.8 wagons of grain per day, up +28.8 wagons per day, or +33.49%, over the last week," it said. Spike Brokers said traffic through Hungarian and Slovak borders had also increased....

The U.K. government also said it would soon announce plans for a < wipes tears > world food summit in November, as part of its "efforts to help vulnerable people and economies deal with the impact of Putin's actions." The Downing Street announcement comes as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travels to the G20 summit in India....

forbes | Why Ukraine's Strike On Sevastopol Naval Infrastructure Is A Big Deal. US, UK do. not. do international law? nope

...Russia's inability to defend these vital pieces of critical military infrastructure is a stunning military failure, suggesting Russia's air defenses are either inadequate, broken or both.

But the strike also highlights Russia's desperation. After several strikes across Crimea and Sevastopol, Russia knew the docks were likely targets, but, regardless of the threat, Russia continued to use them to maintain key Black Sea naval units....

F24 | Poland threatens to extend Ukrainian grain import ban after [ban] date expires, 14 Sep