The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns Russia's opening of the ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk: It's a worthless decision

Ukraine considers null and void and condemns Russia's decision to include the ports in the temporarily occupied Mariupol and Berdiansk in the list of Russian ports and open them to foreign vessels. This is stated by in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The decision was made by the enemy on August 22, 2025.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns and considers the order of the Russian government to be null and void... We regard such actions as another attempt by Russia to legalize its occupation and consolidate its illegal control over Ukrainian territories," the statement reads.

The Foreign Ministry noted that Russia's decision is a "flagrant violation" of the norms and principles of international law, in particular the United Nations Charter, which prohibits interference in a country's internal affairs. It is also a violation of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which stipulates that the regulation of navigation in Ukraine's territorial waters is exclusively within its competence.

"Ukraine calls on its partners to impose additional tough sanctions against all Russian individuals and legal entities, foreign companies, if they are involved in commercial activities in the seaports of Berdiansk and Mariupol, as well as vessels that will call at ports in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the statement reads.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to draw the attention of all member states to the need to strictly comply with the provisions of the IMO Assembly Resolution of December 2023. The document states that the member states of the organization should inform ships flying their flag about the need to refrain from violating the regime of closed seaports in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.

If a vessel violates this regime, the MFA calls for recommending that such states take appropriate measures.

"We are convinced that Russia's gross violation of international law requires an adequate response from the international community to ports on the territory of Russia, in particular those involved in the functioning of the Russian military machine, and the imposition of tough sanctions against them," the Foreign Ministry said .

• on August 25, it was reported that Russia had opened Mariupol and Berdiansk for foreign ships to enter local ports. This will allow the occupiers to more actively export products from Donbas and the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region.