Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, known by the call sign “Madyar,” said Ukrainian drones struck 14 Russian vessels during the night of July 12. According to him, the targets included 10 tankers and four ferries.
Brovdi also said that from July 6 to July 12, Ukrainian drones attacked a total of 90 Russian vessels, which he described as part of the so-called “shadow” fleet.
He did not specify where the overnight attack of July 12 took place. Earlier, Brovdi had reported strikes on tankers in the Sea of Azov and on ferries in the Kerch Strait.
Russian authorities also reported Ukrainian drone strikes on tankers in the Sea of Azov, but official statements mentioned far fewer vessels than the Ukrainian side did.
For example, Yury Slyusar, the head of the Rostov region, said that one tanker had been attacked during the night of July 12.
On July 11, Reuters reported that because of Ukrainian drone strikes, Russian authorities had suspended navigation on the Azov-Don Canal, which links the Don River to the Sea of Azov and is used, among others, by grain exporters.
The agency noted that up to a quarter of Russia’s wheat exports pass through the Sea of Azov.