Ukraine has proposed to Russia a mutual halt to strikes on civilian targets in the Black Sea, according to Reuters, which cited a source familiar with the situation. The initiative was conveyed through a third party, and Kyiv has not yet received a response, the agency's interlocutor said.
The proposal follows a report by the British maritime publication Lloyd's List, which called the Black Sea "the deadliest region for shipping." The publication said July was the deadliest month for merchant sailors since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to Turkey's Deniz Iscileri seafarers' union, 23 sailors died in July alone. The opaque nature of the conflict makes it difficult to verify these figures.
In recent months, Ukraine has used drones to attack Russian vessels in the Azov and Black Seas, aiming to cut off supplies to Crimea and undermine oil exports by tankers of the shadow fleet. The strikes have spread to grain terminals in Novorossiysk, with container ships, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, and vessels carrying Kazakh oil coming under fire.
Russia, for its part, has struck not only ports in the Odesa region but also civilian ships entering them, including foreign vessels. According to The New York Times, citing Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces attacked at least 50 cargo ships in June and July, killing more than 30 people. The newspaper recounted the story of the dry cargo ship Golden Leo, which left the port of Chornomorsk on July 19 with a cargo of grain: a Russian missile hit the ship's hull 6.4 km from the port, killing 10 crew members and a Ukrainian pilot.
Ukrainian drones, in addition to shadow-fleet tankers, have attacked Turkish vessels and sank the container ship "Yanina" of Russia's Fesco company near Novorossiysk, which was en route from India. After that, one of Russia's largest container carriers refused to sail through the Black Sea. The attacks also paralyzed the main channel for Russian grain exports: grain terminals in Novorossiysk — KSK with a capacity of 9 million tons per year, NZT (8.5 million tons), and NKHP (7.1 million tons) — suspended operations. The first suffered serious damage, and the second saw its loading gallery collapse.
Ukrainian grain exports, according to Reuters, plunged 75% in the first two weeks of August compared with the same period in 2025. Economists estimate that a complete halt of Black Sea ports could cost Ukraine 1–1.5% of GDP, the Financial Times reported. The operator Transinvestservice told FT that in July about 15 ships per day entered Odesa ports, but by the end of the month that number had fallen to one or two, and in August shipping, according to Kpler, completely stopped.