Days before Russia invaded its smaller neighbor, Moscow published a series of nautical alerts that effectively cordoned off sections of the Black Sea near the coast of Ukraine, a top exporter of grain and cooking oil.
The subsequent steps Russia took—blocking or seizing the country’s ports with warships, destroying grain infrastructure and even taking farmers’ land and spiriting away Ukrainian wheat for sale abroad—are part of a geopolitical battle being fought in parallel with the Kremlin’s military war, according to Western and Ukrainian officials.
