Eleven Russian ships were hit overnight on July 14. That brought the count to 116 vessels in nine days, according to Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. The operation he leads, MoLoChKa, has turned the Sea of Azov into a shooting gallery for Ukrainian drones.
Going after the feeder tankers
Brovdi’s stated aim is Russia’s feeder fleet. These shallow-draft tankers, about 140 meters long and roughly 7,000 tonnes deadweight, carry oil from Russian terminals via the Volga-Don Canal and the Sea of Azov out to larger tankers waiting in the Black Sea. Many Russian ports are too shallow for the big ships. One oceangoing tanker typically takes on cargo from 12 to 15 feeders.
“The paralysis of Russia’s feeder fleet essentially makes it impossible to export ‘black gold’ from Russia’s oil terminals through the Volga-Don Canal and the Sea of Azov,” Brovdi said.
Dry cargo ships, ferries and tugboats are on the target list as well. Tugs handle port maneuvering and help damaged ships. Ferries move vehicles and supplies between occupied Crimea and Russia.
Reuters reported on July 10 that Russia had temporarily suspended navigation through the Don-Azov Canal. Industry analysts estimate roughly a quarter of Russian wheat exports pass through the Sea of Azov before reaching the Black Sea.
What the ship tracking shows
George Barros of the Institute for the Study of War compared AIS transponder data from June 30 and July 11 and found about a 55% drop in the number of vessels broadcasting their positions. The ships still active were staying close to ports and coastlines, he said, rather than crossing open water. “I’ve not personally observed any effective countermeasures yet besides reducing the volume of traffic,” Barros said.
Switching off a transponder gives little cover. Satellite radar imagery can still find a ship, and in a sea as small as the Azov, “it’s not difficult to find vessels, even if the AIS is gone.”
Anton Zemlianyi of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation called it too early to judge the operation. If the pace holds, he said, damaged vessels would go into long repairs and the number and size of ships working the Azov would shrink. He also tied it to Crimea: “As a result, fuel supplies to the peninsula have become more difficult, affecting not only economic activity but also military operations.”
A strike in the Mediterranean
The drones later turned up much farther away. On Sunday, Sept. 6, aerial drones hit the sanctioned Russian roll-on/roll-off vessel Lady Mariia in the Mediterranean near Crete. The ship, 126.9 meters long and flagged in Russia, was sailing east toward Syria when multiple drones dropped ordnance onto its deck and started a fire. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow confirmed the attack, and no government claimed it.
Lady Mariia is not a tanker. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence lists it as military cargo, used on the Novorossiysk-Tartus route to Russia’s naval base in Syria. Its operator, MG-Flot LLC, was sanctioned by the United States in May 2022. Footage first shared by Russian opposition journalist Alexander Nevzorov showed the drones at work. His claims of 12 direct hits and Iranian weapons aboard have not been independently confirmed.
Earlier Mediterranean strikes hit the tanker Qendil in December 2025 and the LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz in March 2026, both tied to Russian energy exports.
Sources
- Ukraine Drones Strike Lady Mariia: Russia's Weapons Ship, Not Oil Tanker
- As pressure on Crimea heats up, Sea of Azov enters Ukraine's crosshairs
