Russia has suspended the movement of merchant ships, particularly active in the grain and wheat trade, following its decision to launch a military campaign in eastern Ukraine.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a "special military operation" in Ukraine to eliminate what he called serious threats, saying the goal was to disarm his country's southern neighbor.
Stop all wheat ships
Officials and five-grain industry sources said today that Russia has suspended commercial ship traffic in the Sea of Azov until further notice, but has kept its Black Sea ports open for shipping.
Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, ships its wheat mainly from Black Sea ports.
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"All ships are parked (in the Azov Sea)," said a source of the wheat sector, "said Reuters in the state of anonymity.
Russia and Ukraine export 29 percent of the world's wheat exports, 19 percent of corn supplies, and 80 percent of sunflower oil.
Russia supplies wheat to all major parts of the world. Turkey and Egypt are the biggest importers.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian ambassador in Ankara said his country had asked Turkey to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian ships.
World War III paralyzes planes
Also today, flights were canceled at airports in major cities in southern Russia, near the border with Ukraine.
And the agency "Rosaviatsya" said that flights were canceled in Rostov, Krasnodar, Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik, Ilitsa, Stavropol, Belgorod, Bryansk, Orel, Kursk, and Voronezh, all of which are located near Ukraine or on the Black Sea.
The cancellation decision also includes Simferopol, the capital of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
The Russian Aviation Agency added that the decision was due to the "complex situation in Ukraine," where overnight Moscow launched a military operation.
It explained that these procedures will remain in effect until March 2.
Russian-Ukrainian war
Thursday at dawn, Russia launched a comprehensive military operation on Ukrainian territory, 3 days after its recognition of the independence of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, despite international warnings of strong reactions if such a step was taken.
Then explosions were heard in several Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev, near the front line and along the country's coast, followed by ambulance sirens in large parts of the country.
In a televised speech, Putin authorized a special military operation in the Donbass, warning that in the event of foreign intervention, Russia would respond immediately, stressing that Russia's actions were aimed at defending itself against threats and problems more serious than those that exist today.
On Thursday, Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian aircraft, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that his country was facing a "total invasion."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his citizens to stay home as much as possible, saying, "We are strong, we are ready for anything and we will win."
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