Ukrainian Ports, Black Sea Terrorized by Russia, 300 Vessels Damaged - Ports Association Chief Speaks Out

Constant Russian attacks against Odesa and other coastal cities of Ukraine do not stop for a single day. The main targets, surprisingly, are not military facilities, but rather civilian ones. First and foremost, ports and infrastructure facilities. In recent months alone, the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi, through which tens of millions of tons of grain are exported each year, along with millions of tonnes of metal products and other Ukrainian goods, have been subjected to hundreds of drone and missile strikes.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Several ships have been sunk, and dozens have been damaged. And these are not military ships, but commercial vessels. Ukraine produces up to 15% of the world’s grain and up to 50% of its vegetable oil. Therefore, disruption to supplies could threaten food security throughout the world. We discuss the dangers posed by these attacks, their consequences for Ukraine’s maritime trade, and whether Ukrainian exports could be redirected through Romanian or Polish ports, or through nearby Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, with Dmytro Barinov, former Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority and current President of the Board of the Ukrainian Ports Association, Ukrport. Kyiv Post: So, what’s happening in Odesa right now? We see that Russia is intensifying its missile strikes. Missile strikes, but also drone strikes on the infrastructure of Odesa and several ports around it. Today we also heard some explosions. What’s going on? Other Topics of Interest Borys Gudziak, Metropolitan Archbishop, Archeparchy of Philadelphia Comments for Kyiv Post Archbishop Borys Gudziak shared his thoughts about God in history with Kyiv Post’s Chief Editor Bohdan Nahaylo at the YES 2026 forum. Dmytro Barinov: Yeah, they really intensified their shelling from the beginning of 2026, but especially from July 2026 – they changed their tactics. They not only hit infrastructure, the port itself, or the vessels which are in the port at that time. They are hunting for vessels which are underway in or out of the port. And this is the problem. And right now, it’s not a matter of the freight rate or insurance rate. It’s a matter of life or death for the seafarers. That is why shipowners and masters refuse to call at Ukrainian Black Sea ports. What are the consequences for the Ukrainian economy and trade going to be in this case? It’s very bad for our economy, as we have an export-oriented economy. And it’s not only about agricultural products, it’s also about iron ore. We are a huge producer and exporter of these kinds of goods. And yeah, for sure, it impacts the farmers, the logistics chain, the ports, everything. But I want to add that it’s not only a Ukrainian problem – this is a global problem too. Why? You know, when there was a full blockade in 2022, the price of wheat on the New York Stock Exchange jumped by 25% immediately. Right now, when Ukraine is not on the agricultural market. And Russia too, because at that time in 2022, Russia was still trading. But right now, no. That is why one-third of global wheat production and consumption is blocked. And not for, you know, for the moon or for space. It’s for certain regions like Turkey, Northern Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, and the Middle East. That is why I think it will have a bad impact on the global economy too. How many vessels were damaged in the strikes? How many? What percentage of port infrastructure was damaged? So, for now, the problem is highly serious. It’s huge. I’ll give you some figures. From the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russians have damaged more than 1,000 different pieces of infrastructure. Port infrastructure like storage facilities, buildings, bridges, berths, cranes, etc. Transshipment terminals. More than 300 vessels were damaged, or fully or partly destroyed during that time. And as we said, they have intensified this kind of hunting. I can use this word. They hunt for civilian vessels under foreign flags with international seafarers, citizens of different countries. And from the beginning, more than 300 vessels were damaged and more than 200 people were killed or injured. Even Russian citizens as sailors on these vessels? No, I don’t know about the Russians, maybe. But we had two of our colleagues, Ukrainian pilots, who were killed, and a lot of Indian, Syrian, and Turkish citizens killed and injured. What can Ukraine do in this situation? Some people say that, yes, it’s possible to export grain through Constanța or Gdańsk, but we need, you know, more cargo trains to transport it. And is it really a solution, or can this not be replaced? It’s a partial solution. You are right that we cannot replace the possibility of using the deep-sea Black Sea ports, Greater Odesa. Yeah, the Danube region is a partial solution. We made 32 million tonnes (35 million US tons) in 2023. It was the best year in respect of volume, even compared with the Soviet past. But no land-border crossing point, railway, or trucks. No, the Danube can’t replace the Black Sea ports. Why not? I’ll give you a very simple example. One vessel, even not so big – 100,000 tons. It’s Cape-size. Or between Panamax and Cape-size, we can load during three days. And then the vessel is going to its destination. If we count with trucks, it means 5,000 trucks. Could you imagine? That’s 5,000 drivers, 5,000 sets of documents, and 5,000 border-crossing procedures. If we count from the angle of smaller vessels, which can reach the Danube region through the Sulina Canal, which is limited to a 7.2-meter (23 feet) draft, it’s a cost. It’s 20 or 30 vessels again, 20 or 30 pilot procedures. Romania became a member of the Schengen zone, so their procedures became more complicated, and take longer. That is why we can’t even compare this with the possibility of using Ukrainian deep-sea ports in Greater Odesa. So, what to do? I hear from one of the experts in Kyiv that the only, the best defensive idea, is offensive. So, to strike more at Russia to put pressure on it, to force it to some, you know, some maritime ceasefire. Russian ceasefire in Odesa ports, Ukrainian ceasefire in Novorossiysk, and others, looks real, or no? I think that the solution is not only in the military field, let’s say, or in diplomacy. So, it should be a complex decision at a very high political and diplomatic level. Like the UN, like the US, like the EU. And for sure, including our defense, with our military forces. I remind you that from the beginning, we even saw naval vessels in front of Odesa, and we were afraid of the troops which could occupy it. But then, thanks to our military forces, we removed them even from Crimea, and now they are somewhere in Novorossiysk. And I think there are parallel processes – military and diplomatic – and the solution should be found. Again, we have an example in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, when, after Iran blocked the strait, which is very important for global fuel trade, US aircraft, British submarines, and French warships came and did something, but we did not see such a reaction here. For four and a half years, Ukraine has faced Russia alone. But I want to remind you that the Black Sea is not a Ukrainian sea – it is an international sea. We have our neighbors: Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Russia. Two of these countries are members of NATO. So, it’s an international sea, and navigation should be free. It’s a basic principle of society and of the world.