Making somewhat good on their threats, a Russian Navy boarding party seized and inspected the cargo ship Sukru Okan, a Palau-flagged vessel on its way to a Ukrainian port.

The Russian boarding party appears to have air-assaulted onto the ship from a Ka-29 helicopter, which can be seen in the video as target vessel crew members are shown detained on the deck. The Russians also fired warning shots to get the vessel to stop.

The Sukru Okan is owned by a Turkish shipping company and was reportedly on its way to pick up grain to be delivered to Turkish and European ports.

The Russian Navy has the ability to entirely blockade Ukrainian ports, but it's uncertain if they will expend the resources to do so. Russia would also trigger further international pressure onto themselves as Ukrainian grain is consumed by several foreign nations, including China, the top recipient of Ukrainian grain.

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Will Killmore

Will Killmore is a US Army combat infantry veteran and Purple Heart recipient. He has deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 172nd Stryker Brigade and 173rd Airborne Brigade. Following his time in service, he successfully pursued a certificate of journalism and has been a blogger for Funker530 since 2014. Follow Will’s bad takes on Twitter