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Such modern naval warfare does not render International Law irrelevant. On the contrary, the distinction between applicable legal regimes and possible classifications become even more crucial for the sake of clarity and predictability of law and warfare. Here it is necessary to differentiate between 2 distinct regimes applicable to naval drones used either in times of peace or during an ongoing armed conflict. The latter is clearly the case of Sevastopol and Novorossiysk drone attacks conducted in the framework of military hostilities between Russia and Ukraine “plainly engaged in an international armed conflict’.

In contrast to crude oil exports, in January 2023, Russia’s petroleum products exports from Black Sea ports decreased sharply by 19.7%, or by almost 0.8 million tons. The reduction occurred both in exports to EU and non-EU countries. EU states accounted for 84% of the total decline in the exports. Among EU countries, Greece traditionally remained the largest importer (67%); among non-EU countries, it was Turkey with 60.6%. About half of the total volume of Russian petroleum products was transported by Greek tankers, and 64% – by tankers of EU countries. With its own tanker fleet, Russia is able to transport only 1/7 of the total export volume of its petroleum products from the Black and Azov seas.

In December 2022 and January 2023, the volume of Russia’s Black Sea crude oil exports to non-EU countries grew by 0.4 million tons, or 25%, each month. In January 2023, we recorded the highest export volume since April 2022 – 2,394,306 tons. Thus, in January 2023, Russia managed to make up for the reduction in its Black Sea crude oil exports to "EU+" states by increasing its exports to non-EU countries. The total volume of Russia’s Black Sea exports of crude oil, which began to plummet in June 2022, entered the stage of a rapid recovery in November 2022.

In January 2023, under the embargo, the volume of Russia’s crude oil exports from Black Sea ports to EU countries was 1.27 million tons. Compared to December 2022, it increased by 25%. Russian oil was transported to 4 EU countries: Greece – 961,124 tons (75% of the total volume), Spain – 159,058 tons, the Netherlands – 103,755 tons, and Slovenia – 50,344 tons. Of the 12 oil tankers that carried Russian crude oil to EU countries in January 2023, 8 tankers are owned and operated by companies registered in Greece, Denmark, and Cyprus. The remaining 4 – by companies registered in Turkey, the Marshall Islands, and the subsidiaries of the Russian Sovcomflot, registered in Dubai.

The Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies and BlackSeaNews, based on the results of its own monitoring, presents a database of seaborne exports of crude oil and petroleum products from Russian ports on the Black and Azov Seas in January 2023. In total, in January 2023, 200 tankers exported oil and petroleum products from Russian ports (excluding exports to Bulgaria and Romania). They transported a total of about 12.9 million tons of cargo.

In January 2023, 12 violations of the EU embargo on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil from the Black Sea were recorded. All of them involved the delivery of oil to a transshipment point in the Laconian Gulf off the coast of Greece. 6 such voyages were made by tankers belonging to companies from Greece, 2 – by a shipowner from Turkey, 4 voyages were made by tankers belonging to companies from Denmark, UAE, Cyprus and Marshall Islands one per each. A total of 1,274,281 tons of Russian crude oil were delivered to the transshipment point in the Laconian Gulf in violation of the embargo, compared with 1,019,247 tons in December 2022.

In January 2023, a total of 44 tankers exported CPC oil from the Russian port of Novorossiysk, excluding the exports to Bulgaria and Romania. Together they exported a total of about 5.9 million tons of oil, including 3.2 million tons to the EU and 2.7 million tons to other countries.

According to preliminary estimates, in January 2023, Russia's seaborne crude oil exports from the Black Sea will increase significantly. This growth will be from 15 to 35%, and the export volume will reach 3.4-4.2 million tons compared with 2.9 million tons in December 2022. This exceeds the increase in Russia’s crude oil exports from the Black Sea ports that occurred in December 2022 - the first month after the introduction of the EU embargo and the price cap on Russia’s oil exports. This growth was achieved mainly due to India. In December 2022, 75.3% of Russia’s oil was not subject to the price cap because it was shipped by tankers that did not belong to EU shipowners.

The average number of vessels arriving per day at the ports of Odesa as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative is one of the indicators of military risks. In September 2022, it was 5.9 vessels per day; in October – 5.1; in November – 3.3; and in December – 3.2. That is, in November, as a result of Russia’s deliberate actions, the number of vessels receiving permits for voyages to Ukrainian ports almost halved. Blocking the "grain corridor" remains an integral part of Putin's plan for a new stage of the war. That is, in the event of a new Russian offensive, the "grain corridor" may be blocked.

In December 2022, despite the embargo that came into effect on 5 December 2022, there wasn’t any significant decline in maritime exports of Russia’s crude oil from the Black Sea to EU countries. The volume of exports remained at the level of 1 million tons, the same as in November 2022. The volume of Russia’s Black Sea crude oil exports to EU countries, starting from the embargo date of 5 December 2022, even increased slightly: it amounted to about 560,000 tons - or 55% of the total volume of Russia’s Black Sea crude oil exports to EU countries in December 2022. The shipowners of all oil tankers that arrived with a cargo of Russian crude oil in EU countries in violation of the embargo in December 2022 are companies registered in Greece.

The Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies and BlackSeaNews, based on the results of its own monitoring, presents a database of seaborne exports of crude oil and petroleum products from Russian ports on the Black and Azov Seas in December 2022. In total, in December 2022, 216 tankers exported oil and petroleum products from Russian ports (excluding exports to Bulgaria and Romania). They transported a total of about 14.4 million tons of cargo.

In December 2022, a total of 55 tankers exported CPC oil from the Russian port of Novorossiysk, excluding the exports to Bulgaria and Romania. Together they exported a total of about 7.4 million tons of oil, including 5.7 million tons to the EU and 1.7 million tons to other countries.

After the June 2022 decision on the future EU embargo, during the 6-month transition period, nine EU countries and the US together imported 9.3 million tons of Russian crude oil at the estimated total cost of $5.3 billion or about $0.9 billion per month. Consequently, after the embargo kicks in, assuming that Russia doesn’t find alternative buyers for its Black Sea oil, its future unearned income can be roughly estimated at the same level. Following the EU decision on sanctioning Russian maritime crude oil export starting December 5, 2022, in November, the total volume of Russia’s maritime crude oil export experienced a significant drop by almost 1 million tons.

In November 2022, 184 tankers exported oil and petroleum products from Russian ports (excluding exports to Bulgaria and Romania). They transported a total of about 10.3 million tons of cargo, including 2.6 million tons of Russian crude oil, 4.6 million tons of Kazakh CPC crude oil, and 3.1 million tons of Russian petroleum products.

In November 2022, a total of 32 tankers exported CPC oil from the Russian port of Novorossiysk, excluding the exports to Bulgaria and Romania. Together they exported a total of about 4.6 million tons of oil, including 3.1 million tons to the EU and 1.5 million tons to other countries.