(KYIV, UKRAINE) – Ukrainian forces have struck more than 100 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov within a single week, effectively halting all shipping traffic as Moscow proves unable to counter the sustained drone offensive.
The operation, conducted by the “Magyar’s Birds” drone unit, has seen at least 105 ships destroyed or damaged in seven days. The unit has released numbered video compilations documenting each strike to verify the scale of the campaign. Footage shows inland tankers and ferries ablaze, including vessels struck in the Kerch area. Satellite imagery confirms multiple fires with thick smoke rising from several ships simultaneously.
Russia has now suspended traffic in the Don–Azov shipping channel, impacting grain trade routes. Vessels are congregating on the Don River and near Novorossiysk in the Black Sea, whilst the Sea of Azov remains largely empty. Damaged ships that switched off their transponders remain vulnerable, as Ukrainian forces maintain visual coverage of the entire sea.
The Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces released footage showing the destruction of an S-400 launcher, a Tor-M2 air defence system, a Pantsir-S1 system, and two Nebo-M radars in Crimea. Air defences on the occupied peninsula have effectively collapsed, leaving it exposed to further strikes.
On the Russian mainland, drones struck the Syzran oil refinery in Samara Oblast for the thirteenth time, igniting multiple fires. Every primary crude processing unit, including ABT-5, ABT-6, and the catalytic reforming unit, was damaged. The Rosneft facility’s entire processing capacity is now offline. Footage showed drones bypassing wire and mesh netting installed around distillation towers.
A widening fuel crisis has gripped Russia since late May. Petrol prices in occupied Crimea have reached 450 roubles (£3.67 / $4.74 / €4.36) per litre, equivalent to approximately $22 per gallon in United States terms. Adjusted for purchasing power, the cost compares to $80 per gallon for American consumers. In Mirny, Siberia, far from drone strike zones, prices hit 380 roubles (£3.10 / $4.00 / €3.68) per litre, exceeding the cost of milk and vodka. Regional authorities have deployed schoolteachers on summer holiday to manage queues at filling stations, compensating them only with tea and coffee.
Russian farmers have warned that if diesel reaches 100 roubles (£0.82 / $1.05 / €0.97) per litre, they will abandon harvests and let crops rot in fields. Livestock producers say they cannot afford rising grain costs, threatening meat and dairy supply chains.
Ukrainian forces also conducted a combined sea-and-ground drone operation on the Kinburn Spit, Mykolaiv Oblast. The 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade released footage of an unmanned boat deploying an armed unmanned ground vehicle to assault a Russian position.
Russia retaliated with a drone strike on a civilian cargo vessel in Odesa, killing five Syrian crew members and injuring ten others. Russian forces also struck Sumy with guided aerial bombs, killing at least four people and wounding seven. Ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv were reported the same morning.
Germany announced a 90 million euro (£77 million / $98 million) aid package funding 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine.
United States Senator Lindsey Graham died aged 71, one day after his final visit to Kyiv and hours after a video showing his support for Ukraine was published. Graham had visited Ukraine ten times during the full-scale invasion. Russian opposition figure Igor Sushko and financier Sir William Browder have called for a full forensic autopsy and toxicology screening, citing Russia’s documented history of administering poisons that simulate cardiac arrest. Graham was the architect of a pending sanctions bill targeting Russia.
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