Ukraine's Drone Forces Hit 300 Russian Shadow Fleet Tankers in 3 Months

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) said Tuesday they have struck 300 Russian shadow fleet tankers within 11 weeks in an operation dubbed “Operation MoLoChKa.”The so-called shadow fleet refers to aging oil tankers that ferry Russian oil and bypass Western sanctions and price caps, using various means to mask the origins and destinations of their cargoes.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.The USF’s commander, Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, said in a Facebook announcement that his branch struck 134 such oil tankers in the Sea of Azov, and another 166 tankers in the Black Sea within an 11-week period.He said the operation started on July 6, 2026.The operation’s name is a backronym from a phrase that says “Moscow Will Lie Across Crimea” in Ukrainian, according to Brovdi’s explanation in July, with the word “Molochka” meaning “Milk” in Ukrainian.Most of the shadow fleet vessels struck came from the initial phase of the operation, with the USF claiming 159 tankers were hit within 12 days, ending on July 17.By early August, the USF said it struck 12 more within the first week of the month and brought the tally at the time to 218 – 134 in the Sea of Azov and 84 in the Black Sea, respectively.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov decried the attacks as “piracy” in July, with Brovdi rebuffing the claim at the time, as Moscow also targeted commercial ships ferrying Ukrainian grain since the initial days of its 2022 Ukraine invasion. Other Topics of Interest Plot to Kill Russian Dissident: SBU Detains Hitwoman Sent via Belarus The suspect allegedly entered Ukraine through Belarus, collected a pistol from a cache, and scouted the target’s Kyiv workplace. A report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimated that Russia’s overall fossil fuel exports have fallen by 7% in August, with seaborne export volume falling by 21%, and revenue by 32% as Ukraine also intensified attacks on Russia’s Black Sea terminals.Another report by Ukraine’s KSE Institute noted that Russia has boosted shadow fleet shipments from its Baltic ports in response, though they have failed to make up the overall losses. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.