russia wants to restrict entry for ships that have called at Ukrainian ports

This is stated in a memo from the Tuapse Bulk Terminal, which is available to Latifundist.com. The document is being distributed among shipowners and fleet operators.

The memo refers to the preparation in russia of new rules for ships entering Black Sea ports if they have previously visited Ukrainian, Romanian, or Bulgarian waters. The document is dated January 22, 2026.

The document describes a meeting at the RN-Tuapse Sea Terminal with the participation of representatives of the FSB, customs service, Ministry of Defense, and Black Sea port administrations. During the meeting, Rear Admiral Viktor Kochemazov stated that within two to three weeks, the russian Ministry of Transport must prepare an administrative document regulating the ban on entry into russian territorial waters for certain cargo ships.

Among the criteria by which a ship may be subject to restrictions, the document lists the history of the last 10 calls at ports in Ukraine, Romania, or Bulgaria, the availability of new ship documents, a change of owner during the last 10 voyages, a change of port of registry or flag, the presence of Ukrainian or Azerbaijani citizens in the crew, and the chartering of the ship immediately after repair.

The memo separately notes that the military explained the withdrawal of ships not only by the presence of “dangerous cargo,” but also by the fact that some berths and water areas are in a zone of potential shelling, which, according to them, could pose a risk of damage to port infrastructure.

Earlier, the Argus agency reported that ships that recently called at Ukrainian ports will, for the most part, not be allowed to enter russian Black Sea ports from January 2026.

Konstantin Sobol, founder of Marelis Navigation S.A., said in a comment to Latifundist.com that, citing this document, one of the foreign shipowners had already refused to call at Ukraine. According to him, the shipowner explained the decision by the risk of actually dropping out of the russian market for several months.

Freight broker Ivan Mashchenko of Larona Freight & Commodity Services also confirmed that the memo had been circulated among shipowners and was being used as an argument for refusing to call at Ukrainian ports. According to him, in practice, ships with Ukrainian ports in their recent history are simply not accepted in russian ports, and this does not depend on the decisions of captains or ship owners.

Source: Forbes Ukraine