Ukraine war latest: Russia launches huge drive for recruits; Black Sea grain export deal under threat (2023)

FAQs

How did the Russia Ukraine war affect shipping? ›

Port Congestion, Container Shortage, and Surcharges

Several ports shut down due to the war, leading to rise in ocean shipping costs. Ships had to be rerouted causing congestion and leading to delays in cargo flows which worsened the global supply chain condition.

Agricultural products are Ukraine's most important exports. In 2021 they totaled $27.8 billion, accounting for 41 percent of the country's $68 billion in overall exports. Ukraine is normally the world's top producer of sunflower meal, oil, and seed and the world's top exporter of sunflower meal and oil.

The independent Democratic Republic of Georgia was invaded by the Red Army in 1921 and a Soviet government was installed. The government of Soviet Georgia created an autonomous administrative unit for Transcaucasian Ossetians in April 1922, called the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

The Black Sea ports of Crimea provide quick access to the Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans and Middle East. Historically, possession of the southern coast of Crimea was sought after by most empires of the greater region since antiquity (Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Russian, British and French, Nazi German, Soviet).

Russia's invasion into Ukraine could cause ocean shipping rates to triple, a supply-chain expert told The New York Times. The war has heavily impacted cargo ships that traverse the Black Sea and exacerbated backlogs at European ports.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says the war in the Ukraine is stifling trade and logistics of the country and the Black Sea region, increasing global vessel demand and the cost of shipping around the world.

U.S. total imports of agricultural products from Ukraine totaled $143 million in 2019. Leading categories include: fruit & vegetable juices ($48 million), other vegetable oils ($31 million), snack foods ($12 million), other dairy products ($2 million), and processed fruit & vegetables ($918 thousand).

The United States is stepping up to buy about 150,000 metric tons of grain from Ukraine in the next few weeks for an upcoming shipment of food aid from ports no longer blockaded by war, the World Food Program chief has told The Associated Press.

Ukraine is one of the world's major grain producers. The country mainly grows and exports wheat, corn and barley. According to the European Commission, Ukraine accounts for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn market, and 13% of the barley market.

Russia has built 5 permanent military bases in South Ossetia manned by approximately 5,000 security personnel.

How much of Georgia is controlled by Russia? ›

August 2018 marks the ten-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. A decade on, one-fifth of Georgian territory remains under Russian occupation.

Until 1918, Georgia would be part of the Russian Empire. Russian rule offered the Georgians security from external threats, but it was also often heavy-handed and insensitive to locals. By the late 19th century, discontent with the Russian authorities led to a growing national movement.

Thus, by pure diplomacy and only a few thousand troops, the Russians took advantage of Chinese weakness and the strength of the other European powers to annex 350,000 square miles (910,000 km²) of Chinese territory.

According to the Gallup's survey performed on April 21–27, 82.8% of Crimean people consider the referendum results reflecting most Crimeans' views, and 73.9% of Crimeans say Crimea's becoming part of Russia will make life better for themselves and their families, while 5.5% disagree.

The Black Sea is an important trade and transportation artery for Russia. Both Russia and Central Asian countries are highly dependent on the Russian port of Novorossiysk to export grain and oil by ship; this provides Moscow with useful leverage over land-locked Central Asia.

While the move blocked additional Russian warships not returning to their home ports from sailing into the Black Sea, the move also blocked warships from non-Black Sea NATO powers from going in. The last U.S. naval vessel to enter the Black Sea was the USS Arleigh Burke, a destroyer that left the sea in December 2021.

That means Turkey cannot prevent warships from returning to their original bases through the passage. For example, a Russian fleet registered in the Black Sea but currently located in the Mediterranean Sea is allowed to pass through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and return to its base.

In simple terms, Montreux stipulates that commercial ships of all nations can sail freely through the straits in peacetime. Yet it forbids non-littoral states from maintaining a permanent or large naval presence in the Black Sea—only Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria can do so.

The Black Sea is an important year-round transportation artery, linking the eastern European countries with world markets. Odessa, the historic Ukrainian city, together with the nearby port of Illichivsk, account for most of the sea's freight turnover.

Danish land-based Harpoon launcher in 2002. Ukrainian forces have deployed Harpoon anti-ship missiles to the Black Sea as a counter to Russian surface ships in the region, Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said.

Does Ukraine import oil and gas? ›

Overview. Ukraine is an important transit country for supplies of oil and natural gas from Russia to countries throughout Europe.

In 2018, of the $1.4 billion in U.S. imports from Ukraine, the top commodity sectors were Base Metals (68.4%), Agriculture (9.3%), and Machinery and Mechanical Appliances (5.7%).

U.S. total imports of agricultural products from Russia totaled $69 million in 2019. Leading categories include: snack foods ($8 million), tree nuts ($6 million), other vegetable oils ($3 million), essential oils ($3 million), and other dairy products ($2 million).

The primary origin for US Wheat imports is Canada, representing ~ 81% of all US Wheat imports since 18, with 802 kmt.

The largest United States crop in terms of total production is corn, the majority of which is grown in a region known as the Corn Belt. The second largest crop grown in the United States is soybeans.

China is the world's largest wheat producer and has yielded more than 2.4 billion tonnes of wheat in the last 20 years, around 17% of total production. Russia is the largest global wheat exporter, exporting volumes worth more than $7.3 billion in 2021.

Q: Will there be food shortages? A: There are currently no nationwide shortages of food, although in some cases the inventory of certain foods at your grocery store might be temporarily low before stores can restock.

Although the US is generally reluctant to import agricultural goods, it did purchase around $143 million of agricultural products from Ukraine in 2019. This was in large part due to the $48 million of fruit and vegetable juices and $31 million of vegetable oils imported.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, an estimated 100,000 Russian citizens and residents are estimated to have left Russia by mid-March 2022 as economic migrants. In September 2022 alone 222,274 people entered Georgia from Russia, according to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Is Georgia in NATO Russia? ›

Like others, Georgia joined the NATO-run North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1992 and the Partnership for Peace, signing their agreement on March 23, 1994. Georgia was a founding member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, an alternative Russian-led military alliance, in 1994, but withdrew in 1999.

In 1800, Paul signed a proclamation on the annexation of Georgia to the Russian Empire, which was finalized the following year by Tsar Alexander I. Georgia regained independence in 1918 only to be occupied by Bolshevik Russia in 1921, forming the Soviet Union in 1922.

For decades, the citizens of Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia have lived under Russian occupation and tens of thousands have been displaced, persecuted, and impoverished. Lives and livelihoods have been taken from them.

Military cooperation between Armenia and Russia is based on both states being members of the military alliance (CSTO) as well as participants in the Joint CIS Air Defense System.

The native Georgian name for the country is Sakartvelo (საქართველო).

Since their independence from the Soviet Union, Georgia and Ukraine consider each other strategic partners and have forged close political and cultural relations.

Defeat in the Crimean War further reduced Russian interest in this region. Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States in 1859, believing the United States would off-set the designs of Russia's greatest rival in the Pacific, Great Britain.

Russia (Russian: Россия) is the largest country in the world, covering over 17,125,192 km2 (6,612,074 sq mi), and encompassing more than one-eighth of Earth's inhabited land area.

Who is Russia's largest trading partner? ›

The value of total exports from Russia to its major trade partner — China — amounted to nearly 69 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

82% Russian. 10% Crimean Tatar. 3% Russian and Ukrainian equally.

Losing Crimea, which holds an important naval base in Sevastopol, to Ukraine would cross a “real red line” for Russia and likely risk an escalation of the ongoing war, a former U.S. defense secretary said Wednesday.

Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu said the country's military actions in Crimea were undertaken by forces of the Black Sea Fleet and were justified by "threat to lives of Crimean civilians" and danger of "takeover of Russian military infrastructure by extremists".

Since the closure, only warships with ports on the Black Sea, which includes Russia's Black Sea Fleet and Turkish ships, can enter. The last American warship to transit the strait was USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), which left the Black Sea on Dec. 15, 2021.

Swimming in the Black Sea is possible with a clean freshwater surface, though it offers a different experience from other water bodies. With its strange features, including the high level of minerals and salt, usually, the objects tend to float on the water.

How the Russia-Ukraine war is worsening shipping snarls and pushing up freight rates. The Russia-Ukraine war is severely disrupting shipping and air freight. Russian forces are cutting off shipping routes, logistics firms are suspending services and air freight rates are skyrocketing, supply chain firms said.

The war between Ukraine in Russia has impacted cruise tourism in the Black Sea, causing tour operators to cancel programs for 39 cruise ships.

Commodity price increase due to the Russia-Ukraine war 2022

Furthermore, coal prices grew by around 69 percent. A significant increase was also recorded in prices of metals exported by Russia, such as nickel, palladium, and aluminum.

How many ships did Russia steal from Ukraine? ›

Tough sanctions would rattle commodity markets

There would still be a risk to Russian gas flows via Ukraine to Europe. While, depending on the scale of any invasion, it could also potentially have an impact on the production and export of Ukrainian agricultural commodities, including corn and wheat.

Flight restrictions and more expensive fuel resulting from Russia's Ukraine invasion are driving up airfreight prices. It could mean even costlier goods for consumers, who are already grappling with high inflation.

Strong economic recovery coupled with low investment in oil production were hugely exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This sent the oil price to stratospheric levels and this is being passed over to consumers at the pump.

Currently, all major cruise lines such as Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, MSC Cruises, Holland America Line, Viking Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Oceania Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Seabourn, all have 2022 sailings that include a stop at the Russian port of St. Petersburg.

Its cruise that was scheduled to visit Vladivostok, Russia, will instead visit Busan, South Korea. "We stand for peace, and our thoughts are with those who are in harm's way," the company said in a news release.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2021, Ukraine has launched multiple strikes against Russian positions in Crimea and operations that its military said destroyed Russian Kalibr cruise missiles.

Metals. Russia and Ukraine lead the global production of metals such as nickel, copper and iron. They are also largely involved in the export and manufacture of other essential raw materials like neon, palladium and platinum.

The most recent exports are led by Crude Petroleum ($113B), Refined Petroleum ($81.8B), Petroleum Gas ($37.7B), Coal Briquettes ($19.1B), and Gold ($19.1B). The most common destination for the exports of Russia are China ($70.9B), Netherlands ($39B), United States ($27.4B), United Kingdom ($24.7B), and Italy ($22.2B).

How many planes has Russia lost in Ukraine? ›

“[Russia has] downed over 60 Ukrainian aircraft,” he added. “Ukraine's downed over 70 Russian aircraft. So both of their integrated air and missile defense, especially when you're talking about going against aircraft, they've been very effective. And that's why they're not flying over one another's country.”

Ukraine claims close to 3,300 Russian tank losses. Oryx, an independent team of analysts that has tracked open-source intelligence on equipment losses throughout the war, estimated that more than 1,700 Russian tanks have been destroyed, damaged or captured. An error occurred. Please try again later.