The British Ministry of Defense announced that Russia has effectively formed a blockade of all Ukrainian ports in an effort to halt imports into the country. “Russian naval forces have established a distant blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade,” the MOD tweeted.
A “distant blockade” involves intercepting ships far out of port before they even approach the shoreline. Any type of blockade is a tactic to try to starve the opponent of supplies needed to keep the defense in place.