The Azov Sea, that shallow extension of the Black Sea that was Russia's back yard for centuries, this week became a place where Russia no longer gives the orders. Ukrainian drones hit Russian ships to the point where Moscow was forced to halt traffic across the sea - a blow that weakens Russian logistics, isolates Crimea, and threatens the export of key goods.

The commander of Ukraine's drone forces, Robert Brovdi, announced that in just nine days 116 Russian vessels were struck in the Azov Sea. Russia's answer was to close its two most important crossings - the Don-Azov canal and the Kerch Strait. Satellite images show long columns of ships waiting, stuck, with no way out.

From a military into an economic blockade

Ukraine is increasingly hitting tankers from Russia's „shadow fleet“ that carry fuel under sanctions. But the Azov blockade strikes far wider - wheat and sunflower-oil exports are under fire too. The Institute for the Study of War described the strikes as a „new phase“ that cuts off occupied Crimea and severs Russia's maritime routes for oil products and grain. Commander Yevhen Karas was blunt: severing the whole logistics chain has become „a problem the Russians cannot solve“, and the pressure, he says, will only build.

Here the story stops being just Russian-Ukrainian. Russia supplies around one-fifth of the world's wheat exports, and about 25 percent of that passes precisely through the Azov Sea. Agrarian analyst Andrei Sizov warns that a longer disruption could cost Russia billions. Wheat futures have already jumped on the crisis. And when wheat prices jump on the world exchanges, the bill eventually reaches the corner bakery too - including ours.

Moscow, of course, calls it terrorism. Russian diplomacy chief Sergei Lavrov declared that „even pirates keep their loot“, accusing Ukrainians of acting on the principle of „neither for us nor for others“ - just to cause damage and fear. Ukraine insists it hits only military targets.

The irony is heavy. The Azov Sea was a vital link that connected southern Russia to world markets through the Black Sea. After the collapse of the USSR, Moscow and Kyiv agreed in 2003 on a joint right of navigation - a deal Russia broke the moment it annexed Crimea in 2014. Twenty-two years later, that same sea comes back to Russia like a boomerang. Who said geopolitics has no memory?