New Delhi, Aug. 3 -- MOSCOW - Russian transport and defense officials said Sunday they were taking coordinated steps to protect commercial shipping on the Black Sea and Azov Sea, citing what they described as 635 Ukrainian drone attacks on civilian and cargo vessels operating in the two bodies of water. The announcement framed those shipping lanes not as bystanders to the Russian operation in Ukraine but as an active front within it.

The Transport Ministry said it was working with the Defense Ministry and the Federal Security Service to improve early warning systems for vessels operating under Russian registry or servicing Russian ports. It did not specify which new defensive measures were being deployed, when they would become operation...