For the first time since Russia took control of Mariupol, a cargo ship left the battered Ukrainian port city on the Sea of Azov and headed east to Russia. The Russian-backed separatist leader of the Ukrainian breakaway region of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, confirmed the development via Telegram, writing, “Today 2,500 tons of hot-rolled sheets left the port of Mariupol.” 

According to Reuters, Ukraine said the shipment of metal from Mariupol, whose capture in effect gave Moscow an overland bridge linking mainland Russia and pro-Russian separatist territory to annexed Crimea, amounted to looting. Last week the Russian defense ministry announced that vessels could safely use the port of Mariupol as the danger from mines had been eliminated, so while today’s sailing could not be independently confirmed, it does seem plausible. 

Agence France-Presse subsequently reported that the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic announced that it will begin to nationalize foreign ships docked at Mariupol to create its own merchant fleet. “Part of the [local] courts will pass into the jurisdiction of the DPR,” Mr. Pushilin said, adding, “These ships will be renamed. The flags that will be on them are also already clear.”

According to the AFP, the ships in question are six foreign vessels that remained in the port of Mariupol during the many weeks of Russian bombardment and include those that had sailed under the flags of countries including Bulgaria, Turkey, Liberia, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Panama. A Russian official claimed that those ship-owning countries did not take measures to withdraw their ships from the port. 

It was earlier this month, following the surrender of more than 2,400 fighters at the heavily damaged Azovstal steelworks, that Russia essentially seized full control of Mariupol, which prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February was an industrial powerhouse and thriving, multicultural seaport. 

The cargo ship was headed to Rostov-on-Don, a major city in Russia’s south that is due east of Mariupol. The resumption of Russian-flagged shipping between Mariupol and Rostov-on-Don, if only on very small scale, lends credence to Moscow’s long-term objective of turning the Black Sea into the equivalent of a Russian lake. 

A Russian news website, Rostov Gazeta, reported that “the Sea of ​​Azov is Russian, as long as we hold the main ports. In fact, Russia gained control over the Sea of ​​Azov at the beginning of the special operation.” Russia refers to the invasion of Ukraine as a special operation. 

A Russian political scientist quoted by the site said that Russia could “increase the security system that was created during the construction of the Crimean bridge by transferring the ships of the Caspian flotilla,” an apparent reference to Russian ships that are possibly berthed in the Caspian Sea. 

The Russian ship that departed for Rostov-on-Don today reportedly arrived at Mariupol three days ago. The normalization of maritime traffic — which by the Russian playbook includes the nationalization of foreign ships — with Moscow instead of Kyiv as the top port authority may please the Kremlin as it ramps up its war machine against Ukraine in the eastern Donbas region. It also spells trouble for future free trade in the region as well as for Ukraine’s leadership as it grapples with a serious, sustained blow to its sovereign rights at Mariupol and the sea immediately south of it.