Ukraine fires on 21 Russian oil tankers

//

Lerato Khumalo

Drone warfare

Ukraine fires on 21 Russian oil tankers

Updated July 11, 2026 – 11:40 amReading time: 1 min.

Enlarge the image

Ukraine says it attacked Russian tankers, among other things. (archive image) (Source: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/dpa/dpa-bilder)

Ukraine responds to Russian missile fire with drone attacks on Moscow’s tankers in the Sea of ​​Azov. The tactic is intended to make supplying Russian occupation troops even more difficult.

The Ukraine According to its own information, it attacked another 21 Russian oil tankers in the Sea of ​​Azov with drones during the night. In addition to the tankers, the drones also hit four tugboats, two dry freighters and a dredger, the General Staff said Kyiv on Telegram. The extent of the damage is still being assessed, it is said. It would be the largest attack in terms of numbers in a wave of attacks that has been going on for days.

Russia had previously provided significantly less information about the shelling. The governor of the Rostov region, Yuri Slyussar, wrote that four ships were attacked at sea that night. “A person was killed, the sailor on a technical ship,” he said on Telegram. According to him, the damage on board – including a tanker that was carrying highly flammable methanol – is minor. There is no risk of the cargo leaking.

The information provided by both warring parties cannot be independently verified.

In the past few days, Ukraine has repeatedly attacked ships on the Sea of ​​Azov, as well as transshipment capacities on land such as the port in Taganrog. Kiev says it aims to cut off fuel supplies to Russian troops stationed in the south and east of Ukraine and lucrative Russian oil exports.