Putin waged a trade war long before bombing Ukraine. Which side is winning?
Al Jazeera
Putin used tariffs, a naval blockade and bombed ports to target Ukrainian agricultural competition, but none worked.
Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he was shutting down the Black Sea to Ukrainian agricultural exports.
The reason, ostensibly, was Ukraine’s second attempt to cripple the Kerch Bridge, Russia’s main artery to the Crimean Peninsula and key to its ammunition logistics.
A massive explosion caught on camera in the small hours of July 17 left a section of road deck hanging askew over the Black Sea.
In December, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), Vasyl Malyuk, confirmed the SBU had developed the Sea Baby drones used in the operation.
In retaliation, Russia said it was withdrawing from an agreement allowing the shipment of Ukrainian grain out of the Black Sea, brokered a year earlier by the United Nations and Turkey to prevent hunger among the world’s poorest.
