SerpApi.Org
Ukraine has switched gears in recent weeks and begun targeting Russian shadow fleets in the Azov and Black Seas as part of a wider campaign to push Russia out of occupied Crimea.
Commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi, also known as "Madyar," announced Wednesday on Telegram that Ukrainian forces struck more than a dozen Russian shadow fleet vessels in the Azov and Black Seas over the past two days. He said the targeted vessels included 10 dry cargo ships, two tugboats and a tanker.
"[Russia's] shadow fleet vessels were warned by fire over a 48-hour period on July 21-22 that it was inadvisable to navigate the waters of the Azov and Black Seas in the interests of the aggressor country," he wrote on Telegram, according to a translation from The Kyiv Independent, which could not independently verify the exact 13 vessels targeted in the attack.
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Brovdi has been sharing dozens of updates throughout July about Ukrainian attacks on Russian shadow fleet vessels in the Azov and Black Seas, which Ukrainian forces say is part of a wider campaign to push Russia out of occupied Crimea.
Since launching the new campaign, Brovdi's Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces have struck an estimated 126 vessels in the Azov Sea and 70 vessels in the Black Sea as of July 22, the commander said.
The new Ukrainian military operation against Russia comes as it continues to launch strikes deep within Russian territory as part of a larger campaign to weaken Russia's economic war machine.
Both military campaigns have assisted Ukraine's war aims to stave off Russian aggression in the region by weakening their military and economic assets.
London-based defense and security think-tank, the Royal United Services Institute, has described Ukraine's targeted attacks on Russian shadow fleets as a way to increase "pressure on sanctions-busting shippers and insurers at a time when Russian oil exports are already under strain."
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In a June 26 letter addressed to the International Maritime Organization, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba argued that Russian shadow fleets do not qualify as civilian shipping under international law amid their military campaign.
Russia heavily relies on shadow fleets amid Western sanctions on Russian oil and petroleum. Ukraine has also been targeting Russian oil and gas refineries to weaken Moscow's economic military war machine.
Ukraine also "effectively targeted" 13 energy hubs and power substations in Crimea and other occupied territories, Brovdi said, which local reports indicate sparked blackouts across the strategically located peninsula.
