MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, insists that the Kiev regime had not made any attempts to attack civilian vessels in the Black Sea.
"Ukraine has not attacked, is not attacking and will not attack civilian vessels, nor any other civilian objects," he told Reuters.
Earlier, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov reported that the Kiev regime had made an unsuccessful attempt to attack Russian civilian vessels in the Black Sea by seaborne drones that were timely detected and destroyed by Russian naval ships.
On July 19, the Russian Defense Ministry said that, due to the termination of the grain deal, Moscow would deem all vessels traversing the Black Sea bound for Ukrainian ports to be carriers of military cargo, effective 12:00 a.m. Moscow time on July 20. The next day, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that effective on July 21, all vessels crossing the Black Sea bound for Russian ports can be considered as carriers of military cargo.