The State Hydrographic Service of Ukraine has issued an official coastal warning that the water area of six Russian ports are considered a war risk area.
The warning applies to the water area of the internal and external roadsteads of the Russian ports of Anapa, Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, Tuapse, Sochi and Taman.
The warning may make it more difficult for Russians to insure their vessels.
The warning is effective from 1200 UTC on 4 August 2023 until further notice, pursuant to the Ukrainian Navy's order.
As reported earlier, on 19 July, Russia announced that starting from 20 July, it would consider countries whose vessels sail to Ukrainian ports to be "involved in the conflict".
On the night of 4 August, explosions were heard in Novorossiysk, and the Russian Ministry of Defence reported an attack by two unmanned naval boats. According to later reports, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted a special operation in the Novorossiysk bay. A surface drone damaged the large landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak, which was built in Gdansk, Poland, in 1976.
Last night, a naval drone blew up a large Russian oil tanker, SIG, which was transporting fuel for Russian troops, near the Kerch Strait.
According to a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, Andriy Yusov, he Russian fleet in the Black Sea no longer seems so invulnerable after the attacks on the Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship and the SIG tanker.