Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Wednesday to seize European vessels in retaliation if European countries begin seizing Russian merchant ships, as Ukraine launched a major overnight attack on a key Russian Black Sea naval and commercial hub and Moscow staged large-scale war games in the Pacific.The developments underscore a growing battle at sea: Ukraine is hitting one of Russia’s most important Black Sea naval and export hubs, while Moscow is warning it could seize European vessels and flexing its naval power in the Pacific.Though the events are not directly linked, they show how the war is increasingly extending beyond the front lines into strategic ports and international shipping routes.Ukraine hammered the port city of Novorossiysk in a massive overnight drone attack that put two major grain terminals out of operation, according to Russian industry sources cited by Reuters on Aug.
12.Novorossiysk is a major Black Sea export hub and also serves as a base for Russian warships that Moscow relocated there after repeated Ukrainian attacks on its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed responsibility Wednesday morning for an operation targeting the Novorossiysk naval base, calling it "the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea." In a post on X, Zelenskyy said Ukraine used Palianytsia jet-powered drones, Neptune missiles and unmanned naval systems and claimed hits on air-defense positions, piers and port infrastructure.UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORTRussian President Vladimir Putin is welcomed on board a missile cruiser "Varyag" as he observes a military drill of Pacific fleet, in Russia's far eastern Sakhalin Region, Russia, August 12, 2026.
(Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters)"The occupation fleet and all the infrastructure supporting it will not be safe as long as Russian aggression continues," Zelenskyy wrote.The governor of Russ...