Russia’s navy has conducted live-fire exercises in the northwestern Black Sea, Moscow’s defense ministry said, days after the Kremlin said it would consider ships bound for Ukraine by water as potential military targets. , writes news.ro.

“During the exercises, the crews of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet fired missiles at surface targets. In accordance with the combat training plan of the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, the crew of the “Ivanovets” missile launcher conducted combat firing with anti-ship cruise missiles at the target ship at the training ground in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. This was announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense in the Telegram account.

“Telemetry data and video monitoring from unmanned aerial vehicles confirmed the success of the exercises, and the target ship was destroyed by a missile strike,” said the Russian Defense Minister.

“Also, during the joint exercise, the fleet’s ships and aircraft worked on the isolation of the area temporarily closed to shipping, and also performed a complex of maneuvers to apprehend the offending vessel,” the report said.

The drills came after Russia said on Wednesday that cargo ships bound for Ukrainian Black Sea ports would be treated as carrying possible military cargo and would therefore be considered legitimate military targets. This was announced two days after Moscow abandoned the agreement that regulated the export of grain from Ukraine via the safe Black Sea route.

The Kremlin also said that unspecified areas in the “northwestern and southeastern parts of international waters of the Black Sea” are “temporarily unsafe for passage,” The Guardian noted.

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