Ukraine escalates maritime attacks, hits Russian ship in Black Sea
Ukraine has escalated its attacks on maritime targets, sinking a commercial Russian container ship in the Black Sea.
Russia's state-owned nuclear power operator Rosatom said in a Saturday statement that one of its ships had been attacked near the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
The statement said the Yanina, operated by Rosatom's shipping subsidiary FESCO, had no military or nuclear-related cargo and was carrying essentials like frozen food and construction materials when it was attacked by a Ukrainian drone.
The ship sank as rescuers saved all 17 crew members, Rosatom said on its Telegram page, adding that all rescued people were in good condition.
There was no later report, either from Ukraine or anti-Russia outlets in Western countries, suggesting that Yanina was carrying nuclear material or was involved in any activity related to Rosatom's nuclear arm.
Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said the attack was nothing but “piracy and robbery at sea”.
Ukraine has targeted Russian-flagged ships in the Black Sea since February 2022, when the Russia-Ukraine war started.
Kiev has justified the attacks by accusing Russia of using the waterway to carry sanctioned cargo, including oil.
In a major escalation last month, Ukraine targeted an Iranian commercial vessel sailing toward Russia in the Caspian Sea.
Iran strongly condemns deadly Ukrainian attack on commercial vessel, warns of consequenceshttps://t.co/fRiuBh5HRc
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) July 25, 2026
Kiev authorities later said the attack was unintentional after Iran vowed to harshly retaliate.
However, experts believe authorities in Ukraine are deliberately seeking to expand the war to other fronts in a bid to attract more attention and funding from their Western supporters, including the US.
That comes as Washington has repeatedly doubted Ukraine's ability to reach any form of success in its ongoing battle with Russia, with officials in the US government saying that military and financial support for Ukraine should gradually decrease to force Kiev to reach peace with Moscow.
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