Russian Black Sea Fleet deploys corvette to intercept commercial vessels at sea – British intelligence

This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain on July 26.

The modern corvette, Sergey Kotov, is now positioned in the southern part of the Black Sea. Its main job is to patrol the shipping lane between the Bosphorus and Odesa.

Intelligence reports suggest that the corvette might join a group of ships tasked with stopping commercial vessels that Russia thinks are heading to Ukraine.

Experts say that because of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Black Sea's involvement in the war was moderated. However, this means there's a real potential for the intensity and scope of violence in the area to increase. 

Russia's termination of the grain deal

On July 16, the last ship loaded with Ukrainian agricultural products under the initiative left the port of Odesa. On 17 July, Russia announced the termination of the grain deal. In response, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it was necessary to continue using the grain corridor even despite Russia's withdrawal from the agreement. And Kuleba began urgent consultations at the UN.

The White House condemned Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal, which played a crucial role in reducing global food prices.

On 18 July, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were "certain risks" for parties trying to resume the Black Sea Grain Initiative without Russia's participation.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that it was critical to restore transport links across the Black Sea to provide food to the world's most vulnerable countries and to preserve the ability to export Ukrainian goods.

On 19 July, it was reported that Ukraine was considering transporting food as part of the grain initiative through the territorial waters of Bulgaria and neighbouring Romania.

At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defence issued a statement threatening ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports. On the same day, Putin named the conditions for Russia's return to the grain deal and demanded their immediate implementation

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that the only response to Russia's threats to fire on Ukrainian grain ships could be to increase military aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced that starting July 21, all ships heading to the Black Sea in the direction of Russian seaports and Ukrainian ports in the temporarily occupied territory may be treated by Ukraine as military cargo.

On July 21, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted to discuss the extension of the grain deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and expressed confidence that it will work again.

On July 22, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with a proposal to urgently convene the Ukraine-NATO Council due to the security crisis in the Black Sea.  Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote about the conversation with Stoltenberg on Telegram – they discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the Vilnius Summit, as well as further actions regarding the NATO integration of Ukraine.

On July 25, Ukrainian intelligence published a report to the leadership of the Russian Federation that mentioned technologies used to prevent the export of grain from Ukraine, which indicates a purposeful disruption of the grain deal.