Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, said this in a comment to Ukrinform.
"Generally speaking, yes, the Russians are having problems with this. A fairly large number of vessels remain in the Sea of Marmara, and as of now, they are afraid to head to Russian ports. [...] They are reluctant to pass through the Turkish straits," he said.
Pletenchuk added that he could not provide verified figures on the impact of Ukrainian strikes on Russia's maritime logistics. At the same time, he stressed that the Azov-Black Sea ports are strategically important to Russia, while Novorossiysk remains the country's largest ice-free port, meaning the economic impact of the Ukrainian strikes is significant.
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"What matters more to us in this whole story, of course, is preventing supplies from reaching the occupation forces stationed in Crimea. [...] We are carrying out this task, and it seems that we can already see some cautious positive trends for us," the spokesperson said.
Sheskharis, Russia's largest oil port on the Black Sea, has not loaded oil onto tankers for the past several days following Ukrainian drone attacks in the area.