Turkey blocked the straits: a key moment in the defense of Odesa and Mykolaiv

Thanks to Turkey, Russia was unable to capture Odesa and Mykolaiv. Turkey's decision to close the straits was one of the important factors that strengthened Ukraine's defense.

This was reported by Ukrinform.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has closed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, which was a step towards ensuring maritime security.

This decision, in accordance with the Montreux Convention, has significantly limited the aggressor's ability to use its naval forces to seize Ukrainian ports such as Odesa and Mykolaiv.

According to Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar, the closure of the straits has become one of the key factors in protecting Ukraine. The Ambassador also recalled the case of the sinking of a Russian cruiser.

"We sank one "Moscow" and two more Russian cruisers were waiting in the Mediterranean," Vasyl Bodnar said.

The Ambassador added that Turkey has now become a major transportation hub for Ukraine. Thanks to the transport visa-free regime, Ukrainian companies can now freely transport critical cargo from Turkish ports and other ports through the country. This helps to meet Ukraine's needs for critical resources.

At the G20 summit, Turkey decided to present its peace plan to freeze the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as discuss the prospects of Ukraine's accession to NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists on postponing Ukraine's accession to the Alliance for at least 10 years and believes that this only exacerbates the situation.

In the spring, the Chief Ombudsman of the Republic of Turkey, Şeref Malkoç, and the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, visited the port of Odesa. The guests saw with their own eyes the destruction of the port infrastructure from the aggressor's attacks.

Şeref M alkoç expressed support for Ukraine in its struggle for independence and assured of the Turkish government's full assistance in free navigation in the Black Sea.

Recently, the occupiers admitted that the Russian-seized Chornomornaftogaz company had completely stopped exploiting all fields illegally used by Russia on the Black Sea shelf after the Ukrainian Defense Forces attacked the drilling platforms. In this regard, the volume of mineral production in the occupied Crimea decreased by 28.1%.

Анна Бальчінос