Ukraine strikes halt shipping on key wheat route as Russian fuel crisis deepens

Cover image: A tractor collects straw on a field in a private farm in Zhurivka, Kyiv region, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. © Efrem Lukatsky, AP

Ukrainian drone strikes have brought shipping in the Sea of Azov to a near standstill, disrupting a corridor that carries up to a quarter of Russia's wheat exports and sending tremors through global grain and oil markets. They have also knocked out a significant share of Russia's refining capacity, prompting Moscow to ban diesel exports until the end of July and further unsettling global oil markets. In Russian-occupied Crimea, petrol prices have reached a record high.