The statement of the Ministry of Defense of Russia on the opening of a humanitarian corridor starting from March 25 for the safe exit of foreign ships from Ukrainian ports is an ordinary cynicism. Andriy Klimenko, editor-in-chief of the BlackSeaNews portal and co-founder of the Black Sea Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote about this on his Facebook page.
He cited a fragment of this statement, in which Russia calls on “the entire international community, including the International Maritime Organization, to influence the Ukrainian side and take effective measures aimed at unblocking and ensuring the safety of the exit of ships of foreign states from the ports of Ukraine”.
“So, they are trying to say that it is Ukraine who blocked foreign ships in its ports. However, it was Russia that published the international Coastal Warning in the Black Sea on February 24, and in the Sea of Azov on the evening of February 23. The ships were ordered to leave the areas marked on the map before 16:00 (UTC) on February 24, 2022”, – A. Klimenko reminded.
He pointed out that now the ministry says that “for foreign ships to leave Ukrainian ports for the open sea, the Russian Federation is creating a humanitarian corridor, which is a safe lane for ships from the assembly area, located 20 miles southeast of the port of Ilyichevsk. The corridor operates daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Moscow time), starting from March 25, 2022. The length of the humanitarian corridor is 80 nautical miles in a south-westerly direction, the lane width is 3 miles.”
“What should Ukraine and the authorities of the countries whose ships are in the Black Sea ports do? They should immediately organize an international naval humanitarian operation to support commercial ships that really should leave the Ukrainian ports of the Black Sea, including eliminating the mine threat. They should provide marine and air support for this operation, since the ships and aircraft of Russia carry out firing from the Black Sea”, – the expert believes.
He recalled that since the beginning of Russia's military aggression, at least 5 commercial ships were damaged, one of which sank. At least two sailors have died, although the details are still being confirmed. Two or three ships were captured at sea and taken under escort to the Crimean ports.
“As of 10 a.m. on March 25, not a single ship from Ukrainian ports took advantage of Russia's provocative invitation”, – A. Klymenko added.
