Ukraine War’s Battle for Black Sea Could Be Decisive

A stamp that shows a Ukrainian soldier flipping the bird to a Russian vessel—commemorating a confrontation by Snake Island—has reportedly broken sales records and can be seen as a symbol of the strategic importance of the Black Sea in the Ukraine war.

Philately captured a naval moment marking the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s invasion on February 24. Since then Russia has been dominating the waters that lap much of Ukraine’s southern coast despite a headline-grabbing and morale boosting strike two months ago.

On April 14, Kyiv said it sank Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva with two Neptune missiles, killing as many as 250 sailors. Russia denied this, saying that the vessel sank after a fire on board that detonated ammunition.

But British defense officials have pointed to how, in the weeks that followed, Russia has moved multiple air-defense assets to Snake Island where its naval activity is helping its blockade of the Ukrainian coast as food supplies lie stranded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a plea for more anti-ship missiles to break the blockade, warning this week 75 million tonnes of grain could be stuck in Ukraine by the fall. However, there is doubt over whether such weapons will hand Ukraine an advantage.

“Even with anti-ship missiles, that’s assuming that the only threat you have is ships,” said Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian and associate professor of history at Campbell University in North Carolina.

“The threat Russians pose is with their submarines, which can mine the waters, torpedo vessels so that they have a potent below water and submarine capability there,” he told Newsweek.

“As long as Russia can deprive Ukraine of the…