SEMISLOT88 – Ships carrying Russian goods have been attacked by Yemen’s Houthi movement more than any other ship from any other part of the world, according to a new Bloomberg report.
According to the report, the attack had been carried out despite several previous promises of safe passage given by the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, to Moscow earlier this year.
In January and March, the Yemeni group said it would not attack Russian and Chinese ships amid their continued targeting of global trade shipping.
The Houthi blockade of the Red Sea was carried out to pressure Israel to stop its war in Gaza.
Yemeni Houthi spokesman Mohammad al-Bukhaiti said in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia in January that Russian and Chinese merchant ships had nothing to fear from attacks in the southern Red Sea.
A similar promise was made two months later, following talks held in Oman between Chinese and Russian officials with Mohammed Abdel Salam, a senior Houthi official.
In return, Moscow and Beijing have pledged to offer some “political support” to Yemeni groups that control most of Yemen’s population centers, including the capital.
According to Bloomberg, no Russian-owned vessels were attacked, but there is no guarantee of safe passage for international vessels delivering Moscow goods through the Red Sea.
It said that 19% of the 83 ships listed by the UK as being attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden made Russia “as their final stop”.
In June, a ship carrying coal sank after departing from the Russian port of Ust-Luga.
Since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian energy products and other commodities have been sold through third parties and foreign-flagged vessels to circumvent Western sanctions so that Moscow can continue to finance its war in Ukraine.
To avoid these Houthi attacks, some ships continue to use satellite signals to clearly indicate their affiliation with Russia, including signs that read “Russian crew” and “Russians on board”.
