Latest Articles
The Real Situation with Seaborne Crude Oil Exports from Russian Ports in 2025
29 May 2026
The efforts of the civilized world to counter Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” which transports Russian crude oil and petroleum products, are not delivering effective results. Reports in global media about an alleged decline in exports of “blood oil” are, in fact, a dangerous illusion based on distorted data. This is evidenced by an analysis of Russia’s maritime oil exports conducted by the Black Sea Institute for Strategic Studies. This analysis provides a solid foundation for developing genuinely effective policy responses to curb Russia’s energy exports.
Important
The Changing Military Balance in the Black Sea: A Ukrainian Perspective
10 April 2026
For centuries, the Black Sea has been a strategic crossroads of global trade and power. Linking the Eurasian continent to the Mediterranean and beyond, it has served as a commercial artery and a geopolitical fault line. The presence of a strong Russian fleet will perpetually threaten shipping, ports, and infrastructure. It will always provide Moscow with a lever for the coercion of Ukraine and Europe.
Database of Ukrainian Attacks on Russian Ships in the Black and Azov Seas In March 2022-April 2026
08 April 2026
From February 2022 through April 2026, the Defense Forces of Ukraine carried out at least 62 successful attacks on Russian warships in the Black and Azov Seas, in ports and at sea, using missiles, small unmanned surface vessels, and UAVs.
Russian Blood-Soaked Export
The Belgian Navy detained the sanctioned tanker ETHERA, which had previously transported Russian petroleum products
02 March 2026
According to the Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, since the start of the full‑scale war ETHERA has completed 10 voyages, moving about 460,000 tons of Russian oil products to ports in Turkey, Morocco, and Brazil, as well as to STS transfer areas near EU coasts (Greece and Cyprus). It loaded at Russian ports in the Black Sea (Novorossiysk, Taman, and an offshore STS zone south of the Kerch Strait) and in the Baltic (Primorsk, Ust‑Luga, Saint Petersburg).
Militarization of the Black Sea
Database of Russian Attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea Ports in January–February 2026
23 March 2026
In January–February 2026, Russian forces carried out no fewer than 45 attacks using missiles, UAVs, and USVs on the ports of Greater Odesa involved in the Ukrainian export corridor, Danube region ports, and Odesa Oblast. The strikes involved no fewer than: 6 Iskander BMs, 9 Kh-31P ARMs, 12 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 4 guided aerial bombs, and no fewer than 420 strike and decoy UAVs.
Crimea Under Occupation
Statement by the Crimea Platform Expert Network on the occasion of the Fifth Summit of the Crimea Platform
24 September 2025
From 2022 on, in the context of full-scale war, the issues of Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories shall not be considered selectively. All occupied regions — including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, and parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions — are parts of a single space of armed aggression, large-scale and systematic human rights violations, and international crimes by the Russian Federation, and shall be the subject of a sole negotiation and strategic track. Any separate discussions on the “specific” status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol or the Black Sea-Azov region carry the risks of fragmenting international solidarity and play into the Russian Federation’s approach of “special cases,” which is unacceptable for the international security and legal order system.
Databases
Database of Russian Attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea Ports in January–February 2026
23 March 2026
In January–February 2026, Russian forces carried out no fewer than 45 attacks using missiles, UAVs, and USVs on the ports of Greater Odesa involved in the Ukrainian export corridor, Danube region ports, and Odesa Oblast. The strikes involved no fewer than: 6 Iskander BMs, 9 Kh-31P ARMs, 12 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 4 guided aerial bombs, and no fewer than 420 strike and decoy UAVs.
