A summer of intensifying Russian and Ukrainian attacks on each other's ships and port infrastructure in the Black Sea has made it the world's most dangerous waters for commercial shipping, with more crew killed in July than throughout the rest of the war combined. The escalation is disrupting vital grain exports from both countries, fuelling fears that global food prices, particularly for wheat, barley and maize, will rise further and hit nations reliant on imports.

An estimated 23 people died in attacks on 35 ships in July alone, according to the Turkish seafarers' union, prompting the UN's International Maritime Organization to condemn the "deterioration of maritime security around the globe". Russia has struck Ukraine's Odesa and Chornomorsk export hubs, while Ukraine has hit Russian vessels and the port of Novorossiysk, including tankers from Moscow's sanctions-evading "shadow fleet"; one abandoned, drone-hit Russian ship even drifted hundreds of miles before running aground near Istanbul. Russia, the world's top grain exporter, saw exports fall to an estimated 40% of normal capacity in August after suspending Sea of Azov shipping, while Ukraine, despite a bumper harvest, has managed to export only about a third (1.4m tonnes) of its grain.