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Video: Ukraine Expands Anti-Shipping Campaign Into the Black Sea

Fire Point
Courtesy 414th USF Brigade “Magyar’s Birds”

Published Jul 15, 2026 5:57 PM by The Maritime Executive

Ukraine is expanding its successful anti-shipping campaign from the Sea of Azov into the waters of the Black Sea, targeting Russia-linked merchant ships and adding to a growing toll of Russian losses. Overnight July 15, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) hit 17 oil tankers in the Black Sea, two gas carriers and one tugboat. 

In a statement, the "Magyar's Birds" unit said that Ukrainian forces had struck two "LNG carriers." There are no LNG terminals in the Black Sea or Sea of Azov, but there is an active Russian trade in LPG in the region. The vessels depicted in the unit's video release appear to be LPG carriers. 

In previous strikes on the small, coastwise vessels found in the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian drone pilots almost exclusively targeted the deckhouse, aiming to destroy the bridge - a tactic likely to cause injuries and fatalities among the crew. During operations in the Black Sea on the 15th, the drone pilots almost exclusively tried to damage cargo tanks - usually a survivable, repairable event on a large crude oil tanker, and less likely to harm the crew.
 
The news of the runaway success of Ukraine's behind-the-lines strike campaign was undercut Wednesday with news of the dismissal of its organizer, the young tech executive turned defense minister Mykhailo Federov. President Volodymyr Zelensky removed Federov from his post on Wednesday and is expected to replace him dwith Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, a move seen as beneficial for incumbents in Ukraine's defense establishment. During his brief six-month tenure, Federov developed a reputation for shaking up the status quo and taking risks to get  technology to the front line, like diverting payroll funds earmarked for the end of 2026 in order to pay for the drone strike capabilities that are in use now. He is said to have had a running feud with more traditional officials, including the Soviet-trained Gen. Oleksandr Syrski, head of the Ukrainian armed forces. In his own sum-up of his accomplishments, Federov said that he "initiated an unpopular but vital transformation of the military."

"Fedorov was widely credited for Ukraine’s turnaround on the battlefield, and for cutting corruption in the military. 
Firing him after just six months, and with no explanation, is a really bad look for Zelensky," commented the Wall Street Journal's chief foreign affairs correspondent, Yaroslav Trofimov.