“Sea battle” moves to the Black Sea: SBS hit 17 oil tankers and two gas carriers
15.07.2026 - 09:56
On the night of July 15, 17 oil tankers, two gas tankers and a tugboat were hit. This is the first strike of a new phase — after 116 ships destroyed in the Sea of Azov.
The forces of unmanned systems have moved the operation against the Russian “shadow fleet” from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. On the night of July 15, the “UAV Forces Birds” hit 20 Russian ships, reported the commander of the UAV Forces, Robert “Madyar” Browdy.
17 oil tankers, two gas tankers and one tugboat were hit. This is the first strike of the new phase of the operation, which the commander dedicated to the Day of Ukrainian Statehood.
Brovdy called the previous, Azov phase completed. In nine days, 116 ships were hit within the framework of the “MoLoChKa” operation.
The main goal is to paralyze the Russian feeder fleet. These are small and medium-sized flat-bottomed tankers about 140 meters long and with a deadweight of about 7 thousand tons. They transport oil through the Volga-Don Canal and the Sea of Azov from Russian ports and oil terminals to large tankers in the Black Sea.
The scheme works like this: large tankers cannot enter ports due to significant draft, so they are loaded with oil from smaller feeder ships right on the roadstead. According to Browdy, one large tanker receives the volume of oil delivered by 12-15 feeder ships. The destruction of this link complicates the export of Russian oil.
The strikes also have a second effect. They limit the supply of scarce fuel to the occupied Crimea through the shallow Sea of Azov. Alternative road and rail routes, according to the commander, are also under fire control of Ukrainian forces.
Also, earlier, the Ukrainian Navy destroyed the FSB border ship “Izumrud” near Novorossiysk.
