KYIV, Sept 4 – Russia’s restriction on maritime shipments due to construction of Kerch Bridge jeopardize Ukraine’s foreign trade contracts and must be challenged, a Kyiv-based think tank said Monday.

The Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS) said the construction entails a restriction of freedom of navigation in the Black and Azov Seas, a tangible decline in trade turnover and losses of the Ukrainian Azov ports in Mariupol and Berdiansk, as well as new socioeconomic risks of stagnation of the Ukrainian Azov Sea area.