Ukraine claims Russia stationed nearly 6 combat-ready missile carrier vessels in Black Sea

Amid the ravaging Russia-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe, the Southern Command of Ukraine claimed on Tuesday that Moscow has nearly six combat-ready warships with missile carriers stationed off the Ukrainian Black Sea coast. According to a statement from the commander, there are presently three warships and two submarines from Russia stationed in the Black Sea. The statement noted, “In the northwestern part of the Black Sea, there are currently three surface and two underwater Kalibr carriers ready to launch more than 30 missiles".  

Further, Russia has added another submarine to its naval force in the Black Sea, Ukrinform reported.  

Meanwhile, recently, Russia was able to save a massive landing ship from being destroyed by its crew after Kyiv's army damaged the vessel in the landing port of Berdyansk on March 24. As per media reports, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in southern Ukraine, asserted on Telegram that Tochka-U ballistic missiles were used by Ukraine to assault the port controlled by Moscow. He stated that the Russian crew made the decision to destroy the ship to stop the onboard explosives from being detonated by the fire that was started. 

Additionally, despite Kyiv's claims that it bombarded the warship, Russia, for the first time confirmed that Ukrainian rockets struck its substantial landing. However, Russian media, according to a BBC report, have not specified the details of the vessel's damage but have claimed that it would be towed to Kerch in Crimea. 

Moscow is not obstructing Ukraine's Black Sea ports: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

Apart from this, Sergey Vershinin, the deputy foreign minister of Russia, emphasised that his country is willing to work with others to ensure the secure shipment of Ukrainian grain from ports in the Black Sea to other nations. He made these comments on June 27 during a telephonic conversation with Martin Griffiths, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and further talked about the state of global food security. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister emphasised throughout the conversation that Russia is not obstructing Ukraine's Black Sea ports, but rather that the ships have become trapped as a result of Ukraine's extensive military mining of the Black Sea. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on June 28 that explained, "The Russian side reaffirmed its principal readiness to fully implement its export obligations - in particular, on supply of grain and fertilizers, which is currently being obstructed by the illegal unilateral sanctions, and to assist in safe export of the Ukrainian grain," as per media reports. 

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister stated that although Ukraine's Black Sea ports were never obstructed by Russia, grain shipments were stopped because Kyiv's sea mining made it hard for ships carrying agricultural items to pass through. 

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