“The first round of the naval battle is over. Now, the Black Sea.” That was the message Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone unit, posted on Telegram on July 15, hours after his forces hit as many as 20 vessels overnight.
The targets were Russia-linked ships: 17 oil tankers, two gas carriers and a tugboat. Brovdi said an official report with video evidence would follow later the same day.
His “first round” referred to the Sea of Azov. Over recent weeks Ukraine has concentrated its drone strikes there and in Taganrog Bay, going after tankers and cargo ships it suspects of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” or of carrying looted Ukrainian grain and fuel. Officials reported 15 vessels hit in a single overnight operation on July 14, taking the tally to more than 105 ships in eight days. OilPrice.com puts the total struck in the Azov campaign at 116.
Brovdi’s last line suggests the campaign is widening. The Black Sea is a key export route for crude oil and fuel from southern Russia.
Russian strikes near Odesa
Russia has been hitting commercial shipping too. On Tuesday, a Russian drone struck a Togo-flagged general cargo ship at Odesa while it was unloading fertilizer. The strike set off a major fire, killed five seafarers and injured 12 others. It was one of the deadliest single attacks on commercial shipping since the war began, according to the report. Odesa authorities described the attack that way. The Russian defense ministry says its strikes were aimed at military cargo.
The naval push runs alongside a months-long Ukrainian effort to hit Russian refineries, including some deep inside Russian territory. The goal of that campaign is to cripple fuel supply and deepen a fuel crisis in Russia.
Sources
- Ukraine Intensifies Attacks on Russian Tankers in the Black Sea | OilPrice.com
- Ukraine Intensifies Attacks on Russian Tankers in the Black Sea
