Russian warships attack foreign civilian vessels in Black Sea

Russian warships of the Black Sea, Pacific, and Baltic fleets are firing on and capturing foreign vessels in the Black Sea.

This was stated by Ukraine’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar at a press conference on Sunday, Ukrinform reports.

"Today in the Black Sea, the Black Sea fleet (of Russia - ed.) was operating, along with all other warships that had earlier entered the Black Sea, including those from the Pacific and Baltic fleets. They are capturing and firing at foreign vessels in the Black Sea, but we are repelling all attacks," Bodnar said.

The ambassador stressed that the efforts are being taken to seek ways to end the war and start negotiations.

"We did not agree to Russia's ultimatum to lay down our arms and go to Gomel (for talks - ed.). But in no case are we refusing to negotiate. We want to end the war. We want Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine and we will achieve that. To date, we have used all means of defense, and we have begun to receive serious international support. Bayraktars are extremely effective in destroying military hardware en masse," Bodnar said.

As reported, on February 24, Ukraine made an official appeal to Turkey to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles for Russian warships. On Saturday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish people for their strong support of Ukraine, emphasizing that Russia's ban on warships passing into the Black Sea and significant military and humanitarian support of Ukraine are very important today.