Russian ships fire warnings and board to inspect the flag of cargo ships bound for Ukrainian ports | Cargo ships | Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on the 13th that a Russian warship issued a fire warning on a cargo ship bound for Izmir Port in Ukraine on the same day, in order to board and inspect it. After completing the inspection, the ship continued to sail towards its destination.
On the 13th, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on its website that at around 6:40 Moscow time, the patrol ship Vasily Bekov of the Russian Black Sea Fleet discovered a cargo ship flying the Palau flag in the southwestern waters of the Black Sea, which was sailing towards the port of Izmir, Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the Russian side requested that the cargo ship be stopped to check if it was transporting prohibited goods, but the captain of the cargo ship did not respond. Therefore, Russian soldiers used automatic weapons to fire warnings on the cargo ship, forcing it to stop. The inspectors then boarded the cargo ship by helicopter. After the Russian side completed the inspection, the ship continued to sail towards the port of Izmir.
On July 19th, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement stating that, given the expiration of the agreement for the export of agricultural products from Black Sea ports and the closure of the maritime humanitarian corridor, starting from midnight Moscow time on July 20th, Russia will consider all ships traveling through the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports as potential military cargo carriers. The Russian Ministry of Defense also declared some waters in the northwest and southeast of the Black Sea International waters as temporary navigation alert zones.