President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine has seized the initiative from Russia in the Black Sea and forced Russia's naval fleet and warships to pull back, thanks to the use of Ukrainian navel drones.
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"For the first time in the world, it was in the Black Sea that a fleet of naval drones began to operate - a Ukrainian fleet," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
"We managed to seize the initiative from Russia in the Black Sea..." he said.
Zelenskiy added that since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia had blocked the Ukrainian Black Sea ports and damaged port and grain export infrastructure, disrupting global food markets.
Yet over the course of the war Ukraine had shifted the balance of power, Zelenskiy said, and he thanked Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, which border the Black Sea, for their support.
"We were able to show that co-operation between the countries of the Black Sea region, with partners' support, can return stability to the world food market," Zelenskiy said at a meeting of representatives of the Black Sea countries.
"We were able to provide such protection to the western part of the Black Sea, which now allows our maritime export corridors to operate. The Danube region is also gaining new importance - it is also critical for global security."
After Russia quit the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative which allowed for the safe passage of grains out of Ukraine, a leading global grain exporter and grower, Ukraine set up an alternative corridor in August.
Ukraine has been able to export four million metric tonnes of cargo through that new corridor, Zelenskiy said previously.
Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian sea ports and grain infrastructure but Ukraine launched sea-drone attacks on Russian ships.
Australian Associated Press
