UAV Forces hit about 150 ships of the Russian “shadow fleet”

Over the past night, Ukrainian drones have disabled five oil tankers, one gas tanker, three dry cargo ships and two tugboats.

On the night of July 16, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ unmanned systems hit 11 vessels of the so-called shadow fleet of the Russian Federation. This was reported by the commander of the UAV Forces, Robert Browdi, call sign “Madyar”.

Among the hit vessels were five oil tankers, one gas tanker, three dry cargo ships and two tugboats. The tankers hit in the Black and Azov Seas were used to transport Russian oil and oil products in circumvention of international sanctions, as well as to transport fuel in the interests of the Russian armed forces.

According to Robert “Madyar” Browdi, the strikes were carried out by several units: the 9th “Kairos” battalion of the 414th separate brigade of the UAV Forces “Birds of the Madyar” hit five oil tankers in the Black and Azov Seas, as well as three dry cargo ships in the Black Sea; the 1st separate center of the SBS attacked a gas tanker and two tugboats in the Black Sea; the 20th separate brigade of the SBS “K-2” also participated in the damage to the oil tankers.

These strikes were part of the SBS operation “MoLoChKa”, which lasts from July 6 to 16. During this period, 147 vessels of the Russian shadow fleet were hit – 117 in the Azov Sea and 30 in the Black Sea.

Earlier, the UAV Forces commander reported that the first, Azov, stage of the operation ended with 116 ships hit, after which the focus shifted to the Black Sea, where 17 oil tankers, two gas carriers and one tug were hit during the first night.

The goal of the operation is to paralyze the logistics of transporting oil, fuel and cargo, with which the Russian Federation circumvents international sanctions. This is not about sinking ships, but about disabling them without holes in the hull – in order to avoid oil spills and pollution of the water area, turning each hit vessel into a stationary, “blind and deaf” barge.

Also, the day before, the SBU hit two tankers of the Russian Federation’s “shadow fleet”, enemy aircraft were unable to protect them.

Meanwhile, to cover tankers and gas carriers, the invaders plan to use scarce units — in particular, operators of the Rubicon UAV center, the 51st Air Defense Division, and the Black Sea Fleet’s anti-aircraft regiment.