Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would confront Russia in the Black Sea to ensure it was not blocked by a maritime blockade and could import and export goods.
"If Russia continues to control the Black Sea outside its territorial waters, blockades us or targets us again, launches missiles at our ports, Ukraine will do the same," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video interview with South American media posted on the presidential office website on August 8.
The interview reportedly took place on August 6. According to Mr. Zelensky, this is "a legitimate defense against any opportunities or any corridors of Ukraine." He warned that Ukraine does not have many ships, but Russia "should understand that when the war ends, they will also have no ships."
Russian officials have not commented on the information.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey on July 7. Photo: AFP
Tensions in the Black Sea escalated after the attack on the Crimean Bridge and Russia’s announcement last month of its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Russian forces then launched a series of raids on Ukrainian port cities, destroying factories and warehouses for enemy drones.
Russian warships operating in the Black Sea have recently been frequently attacked by suicide boats.
The Russian Defense Ministry on August 4 accused Ukraine of deploying suicide boats to attack the Novorossiysk naval port, adding that the warship destroyed the entire group of boats. Meanwhile, Ukrainian sources said the country's suicide boats attacked and "severely damaged" the Russian landing ship Olenogorsky Gornyak.
Location of Russia's Novorossiysk port. Graphic: RYV
Nhu Tam (According to Reuters, CNN )
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