Russia says it struck two Ukrainian cargo vessels in the Black Sea

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had struck two Ukrainian cargo vessels in the Black Sea, escalating a tit-for-tat campaign against energy and logistics targets on both sides.

The ministry said it hit fuel storage facilities at the port of Chornomorsk that were intended to supply Ukraine’s armed forces, along with a dry cargo vessel carrying military equipment. A second dry cargo vessel transporting military supplies was struck south of the city of Odesa, and the Kochetok electrical substation in the Kharkiv region was also hit, according to the statement.

The claims follow an intensified wave of weekend strikes. On Sunday the ministry said it had hit the Northern bridge over the Dnipro river in Kyiv — describing it as a route for moving troops and military cargo — and two more dry cargo vessels bound for Odesa in the northwestern Black Sea. An earlier statement said a vessel was struck east of Odesa overnight, alongside a Nova Poshta logistics centre in Chornomorsk and a data centre in Odesa.

Moscow vowed on Sunday to intensify strikes on Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters that Kyiv would step up attacks on Russian oil refineries. The ministry also claimed its air defences had intercepted 559 Ukrainian drones between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

Reuters said it could not independently verify the claims made by either side.