The Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) hit five tankers, five dry cargo ships, and one tugboat of the Russian shadow fleet in the Sea of Azov overnight on Tuesday, Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces Robert "Madyar" Brovdi reported.
"Over the night of July 14. 116 vessels in 9 days have been hunted down by the Birds of the USF in the Sea of Azov as part of Operation 'MoLoCHKa': 5 tankers, 5 dry cargo ships, and 1 tugboat. The shadow fleet is wasting away, but it must disappear as a species," the USF commander reported on Telegram.
Brovdi explained the essence of the operation to destroy the Russian feeder fleet in the Sea of Azov.
"The paralysis of Russia's feeder fleet ('courier' small and medium 140-meter flat-bottomed tankers with a deadweight of 7,000 tonnes), as a significant component of Russia's shadow fleet, essentially makes it impossible to export 'black gold' from port oil transshipment bases... via the Volga-Don Canal and the Sea of Azov to large tankers that cannot reach the oil terminal or port due to their draft and are forced to be loaded from the capacities of those courier tankers at roadsteads in the Black Sea, taking on board the volume of 12-15 of such vessels scurrying through the water," the commander said.
He added that striking low-tonnage tankers and the tugboats that evacuate them by sea after being hit limits the delivery of scarce gasoline to Crimea through the shallow waters of the Sea of Azov, leaving road and rail tankers, which are also under the fire control of the AFU Unmanned Systems Forces, as the primary and highly dangerous delivery method.
