Putin threatens Turkish and Greek tankers as they dominate Odesa's shipping traffic, despite ongoing Russian attacks on port infrastructure.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has issued a warning to Turkish and Greek tankers, which account for over half of all shipping calls to Odesa, according to reports from Kiev's Ukrainska Pravda.
The Monitoring Group at the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies reported that 266 vessels arrived at or departed from Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi in October, marking the highest monthly total this year despite ongoing Russian strikes. Andrii Klymenko, head of the institute, noted that Turkey and Greece represented 53.8 percent of arrivals, with Turkish-flagged ships making 107 calls (40.2 percent) and Greek-flagged vessels accounting for 36 calls (13.5 percent).
Following these, vessels from Lebanon and the Marshall Islands were noted, while nine ships flew the Ukrainian flag. Klymenko emphasized that despite Russia's attempts to destroy port and riverside infrastructure across Odesa Oblast, monthly merchant traffic has consistently remained above 200, indicating that Moscow has not succeeded in cutting off maritime access.
The institute highlighted that shipping traffic persisted even amid casualties among dockers and seafarers, as well as repeated damage to facilities and vessels. Recent incidents include fires on two sanctioned tankers off Turkey on November 28, reportedly struck during a special Ukrainian security operation, and explosions damaging the Mersin, a tanker linked to Russia, off Senegal.
On December 2, the Russian tanker Midvolga-2 was attacked 80 miles off Turkey's coast while en route from Russia to Georgia. In response, President Putin vowed to escalate attacks on Ukrainian ports and inbound vessels following drone strikes on Russian tankers.
Klymenko previously indicated that Russia likely targeted a gas tanker in the port of Izmail on the night of November 16 to deter shipowners from servicing Ukraine. That drone attack caused damage to port assets and several civilian ships, including a Turkish-flagged liquefied gas tanker that suffered a significant fire, though its crew of 16 was safely evacuated.
