The End of Black Sea Shipping

Peter Zeihan 5 min

The escalation of naval drone warfare will shut down the Black Sea within days, crippling exports for both Russia and Ukraine. This shutdown represents a major economic hit to both sides as all cargo must now go out by rail through neighboring countries.

  • Vladimir Putin

Key points

  • 0:00

    The Ukrainians started using open source satellite information to track Russian ships.

  • 0:00

    The Russians are now attacking things that do have transponders in the economic zone of other countries.

  • 0:00

    The Ukrainians invented naval drones which are small motorboats packed with explosives.

  • 0:00

    The Russians are now doing that as well regarding naval drones.

  • 0:00

    There is no safe part in the Black Sea that is out of range.

  • 0:00

    The newest attack hit an oil tanker off the coast of Sochi.

  • 1:47

    There is really no way to put a large fire on an oil tanker out.

  • 1:47

    The Black Sea is one of Russia's primary oil export routes.

  • 1:47

    The Black Sea is Ukraine's primary wheat, steel, coal, and sunflower export point.

On the map

Map of the places in “The End of Black Sea Shipping”

Who and where

Places · 13

  • Black Sea 7
  • Russia 3
  • Romania 2
  • Greece 1
  • Hungary 1
  • Turkish straits 1
  • Sochi 1
  • Belgium 1
  • Bulgaria 1
  • Dnipro 1
  • Poland 1
  • Baltic Sea 1
  • Germany 1

People · 1

  • Drawing of Vladimir Putin

    Vladimir Putin 1

    President of the Russian Federation

    Photo 1

1. Photo: Пресс-служба Президента России, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Vladimir Putin)

Organisations · 2

  • Ukrainians 9
  • Russians 7

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