00:00A series of Ukrainian attacks this week forced Russia to suspend traffic through Ukraine.
00:05a key waterway, limiting the Kremlin's ability to trade with the rest of the
00:11world, CNN reports.
00:13For years, the Sea of Azov remained beyond Ukraine's reach, providing Russia with
00:19a convenient military operations zone and a vital link between southern Russia
00:24and global shipping routes, the publication writes.
00:28However, Ukrainian drones have changed the situation.
00:33Robert Madiar Brovdy, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, reported
00:39of major successes.
00:41According to him, Ukrainian drone operators attacked 116 Russian vessels at sea.
00:47of Azov during the last nine days.
00:50Ukraine's relentless attacks have forced Russia to suspend maritime traffic.
00:55of Azov.
00:56Two key bottlenecks have been closed: the Don-Azov Channel, which connects the sea
01:02with Russia's inland waterways, and the Kerch Strait, which links the sea of
01:07Azov with the Black Sea.
01:09Ukraine has been attacking Russia's ghost fleet of fuel tankers
01:14sanctioned.
01:15However, the disruption of shipping in the Sea of Azov could have consequences
01:21broader ones for exports that are not subject to sanctions, such as wheat and oil
01:26sunflower.
01:27The Washington-based Institute for the Study of Warfare stated that the attacks
01:32Ukrainians in the Sea of Azov represent a new phase in Ukraine's efforts to
01:37to isolate occupied Crimea from the Russian logistics network and disrupt shipping routes
01:43from Russia, especially for petroleum products and grain.
01:47According to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Russia represents
01:53approximately 20% of global grain exports.
01:57Andrei Zizov, a leading analyst of Black Sea agricultural markets, noted
02:02that around 25% of Russia's wheat exports are carried out through the
02:08Sea of Azov.
02:09Wheat futures prices have risen in recent days, partly due to the disruption
02:14in the Sea of Azov, CNN reports.
02:17Russia claims it can redirect all its grain exports through other channels
02:22terminals on the Black Sea.
02:24However, Zizov stated that this would be impossible during the peak export season.
02:30Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that kyiv's cant in the
02:35The Sea of Azov goes even beyond piracy.
02:39Pirates at least steal and keep the loot for themselves, but this is about
02:44in a case of, neither for them nor for others.
02:47The goal is simply to cause harm and intimidate.
02:51"It's terrorism," he stated.
02:53Ukraine maintains that it deliberately attacks only military targets.
02:58Ukrainian drones flew over the maritime routes of the Sea of Azov until they spotted their
03:03dams.
03:04Deployed on the waters, the Russian oil tankers, slow and defenseless vessels of
03:10With a capacity of about 7,000 tons, they were sailing towards the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
03:15The explosions lit up the night sky as the drones plummeted down.
03:22one after the other.
03:23In the morning, satellite images captured smoke still rising from the
03:28helmet of one of his disabled victims.
03:31These intense attacks against a maritime trade route, equivalent to one every two hours,
03:38They have effectively paralyzed traffic on a key supply route, in a campaign
03:43with few precedents in the history of modern warfare.
03:47Analysis of transponder signals emitted by civilian vessels reveals that
03:52Ukrainian attacks have drastically reduced maritime traffic in a sea surrounded by territory
03:58that belongs to Russia or is occupied by it.
04:01The number of signals tracked by Starboard Maritime Intelligence has fallen from 196 on the 6th
04:09in July, to less than half of that figure today.
04:13Satellite images show that vessels avoid open waters and
04:18They are grouped on the eastern and southern exit routes.
04:40The number of signals tracked last year,
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