The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations defines blockade as “a belligerent operation to prevent vessels and/or aircraft of all States, enemy as well as neutral, from entering or exiting specified ports, airfields, or coastal areas belonging to, occupied by, or under the control of an enemy State.” (at 7-10) A blockade does not have to cover the whole coastline of a belligerent State and may cover just some part of it ( Frostad, at p. The blockade is left undefined in positive law (see, e.g., Art 42 of the UN Charter, Art 3(c) of the Definition of Aggression). In effect, it appears that since 24 February 2022 Russia has implemented a blockade against the Ukrainian cities Berdyansk (now controlled by Russia) and Mariupol which are located on the coast of the Sea of Azov (see the map above). Russia also controls the airspace above the Sea of Azov. Under Article 2(3) of the 2003 Kerch Treaty, the access of neutral States’ warships and other State vessels operated for non-commercial purposes to the Sea of Azov is closed during the on-going war as it is dependent on Russia’s and Ukraine’s mutual prior permission. In the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, at 4 am of 24 February 2022, Russia suspended commercial navigation in the Sea of Azov until further notice. The current situation in the Black Sea shows that the laws of blockade are still relevant today. During the negotiations of the San Remo Manual, there reportedly was an “extensive discussion on the issue of whether the practice of blockade was, on the one hand, entirely archaic or, on the other, remained a viable method of naval warfare” ( Doswald-Beck, at p. 213), has been unjustly deemed by some scholars to be obsolete. A blockade is a legal concept which, according to Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg (at p. It is a matter of debate whether it can amount to a blockade. While the closure of the Turkish Straits to belligerent warships has received much attention (see, e.g., here and here), the suspension of shipping in the Sea of Azov has not so far attracted much scholarly debate. Has Russia Established a Blockade in the Sea of Azov? In this context, this blog post debates Russia’s blockade in the Sea of Azov and the obligation to allow free passage of foodstuffs and other essential supplies to the Port of Mariupol.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson, the situation in Mariupol is ‘apocalyptic’. Mariupol’s population of over 400 000 is subjected to constant shelling that has caused a humanitarian crisis. According to media reports, the worst humanitarian situation right now is found in the port city of Mariupol which has a strategic location on the coast of the Sea of Azov separating the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula from the Russian-controlled breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have no possibility to evacuate from besieged cities of eastern Ukraine as the humanitarian corridors are not functioning (see here). On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation launched an invasion of Ukraine.

Call of the sea update