Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces struck 20 more shadow-fleet vessels in the Black Sea overnight, bringing the campaign's total to 136 ships.
Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces struck another 20 vessels of Russia's so-called shadow fleet in the Black Sea overnight on July 15 — 17 oil tankers, two gas carriers, and one tugboat. It capped a ten-day campaign against Russian shipping that has now pushed the combined tally to 136 vessels hit.
Between July 6 and 14, Ukrainian drones had already struck 116 vessels in the shallower Sea of Azov, an operation the military calls "Crimean Switch-Off" for its goal of cutting the occupied peninsula off from seaborne supply. Unmanned Systems Forces commander Maj. Robert "Madyar" Brovdi said "the first round of the naval battle is complete" in the Sea of Azov and that it was now the Black Sea's turn, reporting a score of "20-0" for a single night. Volunteers Support Ukraine notes how fast the character of naval warfare is shifting here — achieved without a single Ukrainian warship, using drones alone.
Six separate units carried out the Black Sea strikes: the 9th "Kairos" Battalion of the 414th "Magyar's Birds" Unmanned Strike Aviation Brigade, the 1st Separate Center, the 20th "K-2" Brigade, the 412th "Nemesis" Brigade, the 427th "Rarog" Brigade, and the 413th "Raid" Regiment. The campaign's goal goes beyond direct losses — it's meant to limit fuel supplies reaching occupation forces in Crimea and to cut into Kremlin oil revenue carried by tankers that evade sanctions.
Responding to accusations of "piracy" from Moscow, Brovdi answered in characteristic style, saying it isn't piracy but "business — yours, bloody, in the sights of the Free Ukrainian Bird." Volunteers Support Ukraine notes that operations like this are, in effect, establishing Ukrainian control over stretches of sea that the Russian fleet dominated not long ago.
The campaign against the shadow fleet strikes directly at Russia's ability to finance the war and supply occupied territory, while showing how drone technology is shifting the balance of power in a domain where Ukraine has no full-fledged navy of its own. Volunteers Support Ukraine keeps helping people affected by the war in whatever way its available resources allow, and considers it important to report on every step that brings the fighting closer to an end.
