Kyiv, 27 August

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, the world's largest container shipping company, has halted new bookings to and from Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after one of its vessels was hit by a drone, according to Lloyd’s List on Wednesday. 

The move disrupts one of the few remaining international container services to Russia and highlights growing risks for commercial shipping operating in the region, the ship tracking firm stated. 

Russia and Ukraine have increasingly been trading strikes in and around the Black Sea to halt or slow goods shipments. 

Novorossiysk has been a major hub for Russian exports since the 19th century and remains Moscow’s largest port in terms of cargo volume, as well as one of the largest in Europe. 

The escalating strikes on the Black Sea also have consequences for grain shipments. 

On Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated on X that Russia struck several Ukrainian ports, grain storage, energy, industry, and other infrastructure with ballistic and hypersonic missiles and combat drones. The barrage also killed a 78-year-old woman in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, with at least nine people reported wounded elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said.