Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces Strike Russian Shadow Fleet Vessels in Azov and Black Seas
Ukraine has been making a renewed effort to strike Russia‘s “shadow fleet” of sanctioned vessels, especially in the Sea of Azov and sometimes the Black Sea. This effort has stepped up in recent days.
According to the Kyiv Independent, Ukraine‘s drones have hit another 13 Russian shadow fleet vessels in the Azov Sea and the Black Sea over the last two days. The Independent cited Commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi, known as “Madyar,” in a recent Telegram post that came with a video of the explosions.
“(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,” Brovdi said in the Independent’s translation of his Telegram post.
The Independent added that Ukraine‘s Unmanned Systems Forces, which runs its drone corps, has hit 126 vessels in the Azov Sea and 70 in the Black Sea as of July 22.
EU Intercepts Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker
Meanwhile, The New Voice of Ukraine reported that European Union forces had intercepted a Russian shadow fleet tanker on July 20. “Every illicit voyage helps sustain Russia‘s war machine. We are matching our sanctions with action at sea,” Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in a social media post.
What is the Shadow Fleet?
According to a Brookings Institution analysis published in early 2025, Russia has built a fleet full of tankers, mostly aimed at avoiding Western sanctions, including price caps. Most were sold to Russia by Western companies. The shadow fleet was mostly created in response to the G7 and Australia placing a price cap on Russian oil in late 2022, a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
How do the Russians Do It?
“A focal point of the shadow fleet strategy is to obscure the ownership of the fleets’ tankers and to mask the origin of the Russian oil those ships carry. To do this, Russia employs a host of deceptive maneuvers, such as repeated ship-to-ship transfers of liquid cargo, blending oil from multiple countries, spoofing ships’ location data, and automatic identification system blackouts,” the Brookings authors wrote.
“Russia has also devoted unprecedented resources to purchasing aging ships from Western companies, obscuring the Russian ownership of those vessels through complex schemes involving shell companies and frequent reflagging of ships, among other measures.” The Kyiv School of Economics said that Russia had spent about $10 billion in acquiring tankers between 2022 and 2024.
Kinetic Sanctions
Ukraine has referred to its long-range drone strikes as “kinetic sanctions,” or in some cases “long-range sanctions.” Edward Wrong wrote for RUSI earlier this year about the early successes of the anti-Shadow Fleet campaign.
Original Article: Ukraine Has Declared War on Russia’s Shadow Fleet and Smashed 13 Vessels in the Last Two Days — 19Fortyfive