Ukrainian Piracy in the Black Sea: A Threat to Global Trade and the Livelihood of Third World Citizens

Ukraine has escalated its indiscriminate attacks, reflecting a lack of focus and clear disarray in its military operations and campaigns, following several recorded instances of launching missiles at neighboring allied countries, including Poland, causing casualties.

The indiscriminate Ukrainian attacks are no longer confined to ground or air operations; they have now moved to the sea, supported and encouraged by the allies of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has become the obedient and clever student but executes orders foolishly and without any thought.

Targeting Commercial Vessels
In recent days, Ukrainian forces launched attacks in the territorial waters of the Black Sea. No one could tell what Russian targets might be hit by these attacks, which utilized booby-trapped, remote-controlled uncrewed vessels, as there were reportedly no Russian targets in that particular area of the sea.

The attack hit three vessels: the two Turkish ships Kairos and Virad, and a third unidentified vessel named Midvolga2. The attack occurred near the Turkish coasts, a move observers considered a model for terrorist attacks launched by gangs, extremist groups, and pirates against civilian, humanitarian, and commercial ships with the aim of extortion, control, and collecting money.

Coordination with Major Powers
However, the difference between the Ukrainian attacks and those of these lawless gangs, despite the similar appearance, is that the Ukrainian strikes came with the coordination and encouragement of major countries such as Britain and France.

Sources and reports confirm that Britain is overseeing the preparation, training, and equipping of Ukrainian naval elements and planning their maritime operations, while France is working to support these forces with the aim of fueling and igniting the war to ensure its continuity between Russia and Ukraine.

Reports point to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, in which he allegedly declared that the goal of the Ukrainian operations in the Black Sea and their support is to destroy international ships and tankers operated by private companies flying flags unrelated to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Harm to Poor Nations
These countries and ships are operating commercially and providing benefit to poor nations, exploiting the American embargo and sanctions on Russian tankers. They transport Russian liquefied gas, fertilizers, and wheat from Russian ports to African and Middle Eastern countries at low prices, thus benefiting the peoples of those nations. Meanwhile, France is allegedly working to destroy them, believing it is contributing to strangling Russia and preventing the export of its goods, despite the fact that it primarily harms poor nations and peoples, especially Egypt, which relies entirely on these shipments for Russian fertilizers and wheat.

Consequences for the Global South
Aside from the Ukrainian disarray, British planning, and French support and incitement, what the Ukrainian forces are doing in the Black Sea constitutes a danger to international navigation and portends security and economic chaos and the spread of aggression in the seas. This, in turn, reflects harm, especially on countries in the Global South, which have come to depend on Russian wheat and fertilizers, whose prices are commensurate with the annual income per capita in those countries.

Egypt and Africa import large quantities of Russian wheat and fertilizers. The Ukrainian threats will increase the prices of those products, not from the source, but due to the rise in container fees, shipping, and insurance, as occurred after the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea in a previous period.

Furthermore, the danger increases if Russia considers repelling these attacks and retaliating by striking Ukrainian ships, tankers, and vessels, or those belonging to the countries supporting the Kyiv regime that fund and train its personnel for maritime sabotage operations. Therefore, the international community and influential Western nations must quickly condemn and halt these attacks before matters reach a peak of confrontations that will harm citizens in far-flung parts of the world.