On July 19, a missile hit a ship carrying corn near Odesa. Ten people died. Most were foreign sailors just doing their jobs.
Four days later, shipowners stopped sending vessels to Ukraine's Black Sea ports altogether.
Not because Kyiv ordered it. Because the companies that own the ships decided the risk had gotten too high.
That single decision tells you where this story is headed.
Odesa region prosecutors say Russia struck 28 civilian vessels and killed 21 people between June 20 and July 20. Ukraine has now lost roughly a third of its Black Sea grain export capacity. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have already suspended their own port calls, rerouting cargo through Poland and Romania instead.
This is not a shipping story. It is a food story. And it is not happening in isolation.
Three Fronts, One Fragile System