WSJ: Ukraine urges Turkiye to close Bosphorus for Russian ships with weapons on board

A Russian shipping line with ties to the country’s Defense Ministry has been ferrying weapons and supplies through the Bosporus to ports on the Black Sea in support of Moscow’s war effort, according to Ukrainian officials who have urged Turkiye to block their access, Report informs referring to The Wall Street Journal.

Kyiv has asked Turkish authorities to take action against at least four cargo ships that it says are transporting military equipment from a Russian base in Syria through straits controlled by Turkiye, the only way into the Black Sea from the Mediterranean.

Ukraine made a formal protest to the Turkish ambassador on September 2 after it said a Russian freighter, the Sparta II, transported an S-300 air-defense missile system through the straits and delivered it to the Russian port of Novorossiysk near Ukraine on August 27.

The Sparta II is operated by Oboronlogistics LLC, a Moscow-based company that describes its main objective as meeting the transportation needs of Russia’s Defense Ministry for “military and special purpose goods.” Since the start of the war, the US has imposed sanctions on the company.

Oboronlogistics said it was carrying a cargo of olive oil.