The ‘Black Sea’ has emerged as a new battlefield for the war in Ukraine. After the Russian invasion in February last year, the two countries fought fierce battles in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, and in Mariupol and Kherson Zaporizhia in southeastern Ukraine. Tensions in the Black Sea area have risen sharply as both sides are at a stalemate in the region and Ukraine seeks to regain control following a series of recent attacks on Russian military infrastructure in the Black Sea.
On the 5th and 6th, the ‘Ukraine Peace Conference’ was held in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia, to discuss ways to end the war and peace in Ukraine. A total of 40 countries including Korea, the United States, China, and India attended. Russia was absent. Ukraine is forming an anti-Russian public opinion at the meeting, saying, “The global food crisis is aggravating due to Russia’s sudden abrogation of the Black Sea Grain Agreement last month.”
● Ukraine, Black Sea drone attack
vs Russia’s ‘Kinjal’ retaliationAccording to Russia’s TASS news agency, on the 4th, Ukraine attacked the warship “Olenegorsky Gornyak” docked at the Russian naval base in Novorossiysk, a strategic location in the Black Sea, using a maritime drone. A Ukrainian intelligence official said, “ We attacked with a drone loaded with 450 kg of TNT explosives. The warship will be severely damaged and will not be able to carry out its mission.”
It is the first time Ukraine has attacked the coast of mainland Russia since the Russian invasion. Novorossiysk Port is a major channel for exporting Russian crude oil, so it has great economic value. On the 5th, Ukraine also attacked the Russian private oil tanker ‘ SIG’ with a maritime drone in the Kerch Strait near the Crimean Peninsula, which connects the Black Sea and the Azou Sea.
Russia also struck back. On the 5th, the Russian military attacked Zaporizhia in the south, Khmelnytsky in the west, and Kharkiv in the northeast, using hypersonic missiles ‘Kinjal’, cruise missiles ‘Kalibur’, and guided bombs. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the National Security Council, vehemently criticized Ukraine on Telegram. He mentioned the possibility of crude oil spills following an attack on an oil tanker and said, “The garbage in Kiiw (Ukrainian capital) is fueling an ‘ecological catastrophe’ in the Black Sea.”
Conflicts between the two sides over the Black Sea are likely 메이저사이트to intensify. Ukraine is attempting to shift the focus of the war from its southeast and east to Russian territory. Although it launched a counterattack by land in June this year, it was unable to speed up its advance due to Russia’s defense, so it is thought that it is aiming for the relatively empty Black Sea.
Russia’s abrupt termination of the extension of the “Black Sea Grain Agreement,” which had guaranteed safe exports of Ukrainian grain even during the war, in order to hinder Ukraine’s grain export business, a major industry, last month is also fueling conflict between the two sides.
The Ukrainian military also responded in a statement that “six Russian ports on the Black Sea, including Novorossiysk and Anapa, are war zones.” This means that all Russian ships heading to these six ports will be considered military targets.
● Bin Salman also called himself ‘Ukraine mediator’
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the real ruler of Saudi Arabia, has posed himself as the mediator of the war. According to Reuters and others, a number of neutral countries that did not take sides between Russia and Ukraine, such as India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Egypt and South Africa, participated in the Ukraine Peace Conference.
On the 5th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged international criticism of Russia’s breach of the grain agreement, saying on social media that “the food security agenda will be dealt with at the meeting.” It is argued that additional sanctions against Russia are inevitable, saying that the suffering of poor African countries that do not receive grain from Ukraine is growing.
Crown Prince Mohammed, who has been criticized for suppressing human rights, is also attempting to improve his image through this meeting. The New York Times ( NYT ) of the United States commented, “He got an opportunity to show himself as a leader with influence beyond the Middle East.”