Symbolic imageTurkey curbs Black Sea shipping after attacks on its vessels
After a surge of attacks on ships, Turkey has begun restricting Black Sea traffic, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Its foreign ministry warns the escalation could hit food security.
A survey after the Nadezhda reached Samsun on Sunday found extensive damage to deck, cargo holds and engine room, leaving the Ro-Ro vessel a pile of scrap metal, the Turkish agency IHA reported. Turkey's Transport Ministry said drones hit the ship on Monday, 3 August, some 20 nautical miles off Novorossiysk with 22 crew aboard, 13 of them Turkish citizens; according to TASS the drones were Ukrainian, and they also struck a second Turkish ship, the Yasar, the same day.
Ankara floats a moratorium
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara had sent the warring parties a proposal for a moratorium on military operations and was awaiting their response; the request for a ceasefire mechanism came from Ukraine.
Kyiv's pledge on Kazakh oil
Ukraine has told US officials it will not strike Caspian Pipeline Consortium infrastructure or tankers approaching its terminal unless they are linked to Russia, sanctioned by Kyiv or carrying Russian cargo, Bloomberg reported citing an unnamed US official. Kazakhstan, which exports about 80% of its oil via the CPC, has not ruled out compensation claims over July's drone attacks near the terminal.
Other opinions
TASS frames the story throughout as Ukrainian attacks on Turkish civilian ships; Ukrainian voices are absent, and no Turkish authority has confirmed the curbs.