The Ukrainian drone assault on Friday on a Russian warship in Novorossiysk served as one other blow for the Russian Navy, which operates a key base within the Black Sea port metropolis.
It additionally signaled that Moscow’s financial system is ever extra squarely in Ukraine’s cross hairs, bringing the battle to one in every of Russia’s most crucial business ports.
Here’s a have a look at the port and its significance for Moscow:
What’s Novorossiysk?
The Novorossiysk business seaport is one in every of Russia’s largest by quantity and among the many greatest in Europe — a key node within the export of Russian grain, oil, and different merchandise to nations all over the world.
It has been a hub of worldwide commerce for Russia for the reason that nineteenth century and town was additionally the location of the primary Pepsi manufacturing facility in Russia, opened within the Soviet Union within the early Nineteen Seventies throughout the Chilly Warfare détente.
Earlier than his unlawful annexation of Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia allotted vital sources to the development of the naval base at Novorossiysk, turning the port into one of many nation’s major naval hubs for the Black Sea. On the identical day that the port was hit, a drone assault additionally focused Feodosia, a Russian-controlled port in Crimea.
How vital is Novorossiysk for Russia’s financial system?
The port is a big export hub for grain, given its proximity to Russia’s greatest grain-producing areas and its location on the Black Sea, which permits for straightforward exports to Africa, Asia and South America, along with Europe.
At a summit with African leaders final week in St. Petersburg, Russia, Mr. Putin promised free grain to plenty of African nations — grain that probably could be exported from Russia by way of Novorossiysk.
What does the assault imply for Russia?
The assault, and the next pause in maritime visitors on the port, prompted wheat futures to rise on Friday, a sign of Novorossiysk’s significance to the worldwide grain commerce. Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which operates an oil terminal at Novorossiysk, mentioned the assault triggered a brief halt on the motion of ships within the port. It was unclear whether or not any oil export infrastructure was broken within the assault.
If strikes proceed across the port — whose business operator is underneath European Union sanctions — the consequence may very well be vital financial disruption for Russia.
The assault on Friday may very well be “a strong shock to the Russian financial system,” the Russian pro-government Telegram channel Readovka Explains posted on Friday, calling for an “instant response” by Moscow.
