Three black naval drones resembling oversized plastic toys struck a freighter sluggishly navigating the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria on October 28.
asserted
drones → resemble → October
Aerial drones joined the attack, and explosions rocked the Liberian-flagged Contship Jet Monrovia, loaded with more than 400 terracotta-coloured containers.
asserted
explosions → join → containers
The vessel, travelling from the Israeli port of Haifa to Romania, listed and sank, but all 18 crew members were rescued, Bulgarian authorities said.
asserted
authorities → travel → Romania
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Seven missing after two tankers catch fire off Romania’s Black Sea coast
- list 2 of 4NATO to send additional patrol planes to Black Sea after drone attacks
- list 3 of 4Russia’s alleged sabotage campaign in Europe raises fears of escalation
- list 4 of 4Ukraine invests in firepower as it inflicts a new Russian casualty record
The daytime assault was filmed by crew members, other ships and photographed by a French surveillance plane.
asserted
assault → miss → plane
The drones were Russian, Kyiv claimed, adding that the attack was designed to make the Black Sea unsafe for civilian ships, paralyse Ukraine’s exports of grain and further hobble its war-ravaged economy.
asserted
Sea → claim → economy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s forces conducted “no operations in this part of the sea, and this latest tragedy involving civilian vessels is another part of Russia’s effort to make the western Black Sea completely unfit for navigation.”
asserted
Sea → say → navigation
The European Union’s delegation to Kyiv said in August that Russia is “systematically strangling Ukraine’s ability to feed the world.”
asserted
Russia → say → world
It added that by targeting ports, shipping lanes, and agricultural infrastructure, Moscow is not just waging war on Ukraine, but also “weaponising hunger against millions in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.”
And while Europe’s food security is not at stake, the EU is “fully committed to continue supporting Ukraine’s access to international markets,” Paula Ritter-Moschutz, a spokeswoman for Agriculture and Customs at the European Commission, told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Moschutz → add → Jazeera
“We are continuously assessing its implications for agriculture, global food security, and the economy,” she said.
asserted
she → assess → agriculture
“We support the initiatives for a moratorium on Black Sea attacks.”
asserted
We → support → attacks
At least 30 sailors have been killed or gone missing in the recent surge of attacks, according to Bulgarian and Romanian authorities and maritime tracking services.
uncertain
sailors → kill → authorities
‘A shadow deal was breached by Ukraine’
asserted
deal → breach → Ukraine
Moscow’s alleged campaign follows Ukrainian strikes on Russian freighters and oil tankers in the Black Sea and the adjoining Sea of Azov amid attacks on oil refineries, military plants and warehouses.
asserted
campaign → allege → refineries
Those strikes intensified in July, and Moscow’s suspected retaliatory attacks may have been prevented, observers say.
uncertain
observers → intensify → July
“A shadow deal [not to strike each other’s cargo ships] was breached by Ukraine in the summer,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University who analyses the Russia-Ukraine war, told Al Jazeera.
asserted
who → strike → Jazeera
Russian President Vladimir Putin “definitely liked the idea of completely ruining Ukrainian exports,” he said.
asserted
he → like → exports
“Putin did issue several warnings before systemic strikes on the Odesa group of ports began.
asserted
strikes → issue → ports
“If the attacks on [Russian] tankers continue, we will consider taking retaliatory measures against ships from countries assisting Ukraine,” Putin said in December.
asserted
Putin → continue → December
Russian farmers and grain exporters usually ship more than two-thirds of their harvests via the Black Sea.
asserted
farmers → ship → Sea
As a result of the lack of security, they are testing exporting grain through the Arctic port of Murmansk, though the distance between the farms and the buyers will significantly increase costs.
asserted
distance → test → costs
Wheat prices rise
asserted
prices → rise → ?
Before Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, about a third of the world’s grain exports passed through the Black Sea, and Ukraine provided a tenth of global wheat exports and 15 percent of corn.
asserted
Ukraine → pass → corn
Ukraine’s customers include Middle East and North African nations.
asserted
customers → include → nations
Over the past 12 months, wheat prices rose by a fifth.
asserted
prices → rise → fifth
Chicago wheat futures, a global benchmark for the wheat market, have gone up from $5.03 per bushel (35 litres) in October 2025 to $6.03 in October this year.
asserted
futures → go → October
The US-Israel war on Iran, global warming and a drought in South Africa have also contributed to the spike.
asserted
war → contribute → spike
Constant Russian strikes by jet-powered drones, cruise and ballistic missiles brought operations in Ukraine’s largest maritime hub, Odesa, to a halt.
“Today, after the ports of Odesa are paralysed, there’s no way out.
asserted
ports → power → Odesa
Hardly more than 50 percent of grain can be exported via land routes,” Viktor Honcharenko, president of the Association of Farmers and Private Land Owners of Ukraine, told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Honcharenko → export → Jazeera
“Lots of wheat remained on the fields, it’s not being harvested,” he said.
asserted
he → remain → fields
The consequences will have a domino effect on Ukraine’s entire economy.
asserted
consequences → have → economy
“There will be penniless farmers, penniless medium-sized businesses, taxes will practically be not paid, the state budget won’t get any money, and jobs will be lost,” Honcharenko said.
asserted
Honcharenko → pay → money
The paralysis of maritime grain shipments will mostly affect small farmers because larger, industrial farms will be first to export their grains via railroads and on trucks, he said.
asserted
he → affect → trucks
Up to 60 million tonnes of grain have been harvested in Ukraine this year, but only half can be shipped out of the country, according to Kyiv-based analyst Aleksey Kushch.
uncertain
half → harvest → Kushch
Ukraine’s overloaded railroads cannot get larger volumes out of the country, he said.
asserted
he → get → country
To make use of its grain surplus, Ukraine could develop domestic production of flour, starches, glues and paper-making additives.
uncertain
Ukraine → make → flour
However the country had lost its opportunity to “start full-scale processing”, Kushch told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Kushch → lose → Jazeera
Ukraine could switch to producing legumes and oil crops that would be welcome in the EU, whose member states defend domestic wheat farmers, but are interested in producing vegetable oils and protein.
uncertain
states → switch → oils
But that would significantly decrease Ukrainian farmers’ profits, and that is where Zelenskyy’s government should have stepped in to negotiate EU subsidies for growing chickpeas and soy, Kushch said.
asserted
Kushch → decrease → chickpeas
“The price of the matter is one billion euros,” he added, referring to the estimated cost of subsidies.
asserted
he → add → subsidies
The Aporia
