Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone campaign against Russian shipping in the Black Sea, opening a new phase of the war aimed at isolating occupied Crimea, disrupting Moscow’s military logistics and raising the cost of Russia’s occupation of the peninsula.
Operating from southern Ukraine, drone units have struck more than 180 vessels and other maritime targets around Crimea over the past three weeks, according to Ukrainian forces, in what Kyiv describes as a strategic effort to weaken Russia’s supply lines in the fifth year of the full-scale war.
The attacks, which began in the Sea of Azov before expanding into the Black Sea, target oil tankers, cargo ships, floating cranes and other vessels supporting Russian operations around Crimea.
Battalion commander Ray, of the Ukrainian drone brigade Magyar’s Birds, said his unit maintains relentless operations to sustain pressure on Russian forces.
“We work day and night, every day, without time off,” Ray said.
During a Reuters visit to the unit, soldiers launched attack drones every few minutes. The brigade said it had struck a cargo vessel and a floating crane in the Black Sea, as well as a power substation in southern Crimea, although Reuters said it could not independently verify those claims.
Crimea has become a central focus of Ukraine’s expanding drone strategy after months of attacks on road and rail links connecting the occupied peninsula to Russia. Ukrainian officials say those operations have contributed to fuel shortages and a state of emergency in Crimea, while also damaging power and gas infrastructure.
The latest maritime campaign marks a significant escalation, with drone forces under commander Robert “Magyar” Brovdi reporting an average of about six vessel strikes per day since the operation began in July.
According to the Ukrainian military, the attacks have significantly disrupted Russian shipping through the Sea of Azov, a key route serving Russia’s southern grain-producing region via the Don River.
Brovdi’s forces also claimed the Kerch ferry crossing between Crimea and Russia’s Krasnodar region has lost about 75 per cent of its transport capacity, although Reuters was unable to independently confirm the assessment.
Explaining the objective of the campaign, Brovdi said the strikes were intended to challenge Russia’s dominance in the region.
“Ruining the myth” of Russian domination and establishing total control over Ukraine’s territorial waters is the goal of the operation, he said.
The campaign has been code-named “Molochko,” a play on the Russian word for milk that also conveys the slogan, “Moscow will collapse because of Crimea.”
Military analyst Sidharth Kaushal, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said Ukraine’s focus on maritime targets followed earlier successes against Russian ground logistics.
“A logical continuation” of Ukraine’s Crimea campaign, Kaushal said, noting that attacks on overland supply routes had forced Russia to rely more heavily on shipping through the Sea of Azov, creating additional targets.
The Ukrainian offensive has coincided with intensified Russian attacks on Ukraine’s southern ports, particularly Odesa and Mykolaiv, threatening one of Kyiv’s most important export corridors.
Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister said shipowners had temporarily suspended vessel arrivals at Black Sea ports used for agricultural exports because of the increased attacks.
Ukrainian officials said 10 sailors were killed on Sunday after a Russian strike hit a Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel carrying corn from the port of Odesa, while separate attacks on Odesa and Mykolaiv last week killed at least three people.
Ukraine’s seaports authority said Russia struck Ukrainian ports 23 times and civilian vessels 17 times during the first two weeks of July alone, creating major logistical challenges for exporters.
Agricultural exports, including grain and vegetable oil, remain Ukraine’s largest source of foreign exchange earnings, with more than 90 per cent shipped through ports in the Odesa region.
Russia has maintained that its strikes target infrastructure used to store military cargo and fuel.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces continue to rely on domestically produced FP-1 and FP-2 drones, which fly autonomously to operational areas before remote pilots take control to carry out precision strikes.
To avoid Russian detection, drone launch teams immediately relocate after every mission, often changing positions within hours despite operating more than 100 kilometres behind the front lines.
Ray described the evolving conflict as an ongoing technological contest between both sides.
“This is a constant war — a continuous struggle of measures and countermeasures,” he said.
Another Ukrainian commander, known by the call sign Panama, said the campaign had boosted troop morale by producing visible battlefield gains.
“The tangible results” of the operations continue to motivate Ukrainian forces, he said.
While welcoming the pace of the campaign, Panama stressed the importance of maintaining momentum.
“It’s great that our tempo is so high, but we still need to sustain it,” he said.
Boluwatife Enome
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