In what appears to be a dramatic first, an Israeli merchant ship has successfully broken through Russia’s Black Sea blockade and entered the Ukraine branch of the Danube River. The Ukrainian military website Militarni first reported the striking development, which follows Russia’s decision to pull out of a Ukraine grain deal and Russian shelling of Ukrainian grain silos along the Danube. 

The Ams1, which is registered in Sierre Leone, reportedly sailed from the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Monday and eventually crossed the Black Sea on a direct route before entering the Danube river delta. That happened despite a warning Russia made on July 20 that any ships sailing to Ukrainian ports would be considered as carriers of military cargo and therefore risk being treated as targets. 

The Israeli ship was not alone in openly defying the Kremlin’s dictates. According to other reports, the Vanuatu-flagged Sahin 2, sailing from Greece, followed the Ams1. So did a third cargo ship of Turkish and Georgian provenance that traversed the Bosphorus Strait before reaching the delta. The Greek City Times reported that two additional vessels of unspecified registration were either already in the area or en route.

Israel’s i24news reported that America was providing active security cover for the commercial vessels in the form of a Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. The P-8 had refueled in-flight earlier over neighboring Romania. 

According to other reports, there was additional security cover from up to four NATO aircraft, including a U.S. Air Force RQ-4 reconnaissance drone and an E-3 early-warning plane.

There was no immediate comment from Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs about the ship that left from an Israeli port, nor was there any public communication from the Kremlin. 

The Russian defense ministry’s press service did report that on the night of August 1 three Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessels, or sea drones, attempted to sink two Russian patrol boats in the Black Sea.  According to the same statement the Russian ships destroyed the drones. 

The NATO aircraft cover over the Danube possibly kept Russian counter-action at bay yesterday, and what retaliation Moscow has in store, if any, remains to be seen. Yet the lack of an immediate reaction appears to signify another chink in President Putin’s formidable armor of bluster. 

Taken together, the entry of Western vessels into Ukrainian waters despite Russian warnings and more sea drone action in the Black Sea points to an escalation of tensions to Ukraine’s benefit amid a summer counteroffensive on multiple fronts. 

The precedent is now set for more cargo vessels to sail forth to Ukrainian ports, Russian warnings to not do so  notwithstanding.