THE NEW YORK TIMES: Ukraine pounds Russian ships in its campaign to cut off Crimea

Ukraine has opened another front in its intensifying blockade of Crimea, striking growing numbers of Russian vessels in the waters near the occupied peninsula as it tries to heap pressure on the Kremlin to end the war.

Ukraine is using its expanding arsenal of long-range drones to mount its largest campaign in the Sea of Azov since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Advances in technology have only recently brought the sea, which is surrounded by Russia and Russian-occupied territory, in reach of drones piloted by Ukrainian soldiers.

These drones have been the backbone of weeks of attacks against Crimea as Ukraine tries to expose Russian President Vladimir Putin as unable to defend the peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Ukraine has struck power stations, military infrastructure and fuel facilities, as well as roads and railways leading into Crimea. The attacks have caused power cuts and fuel shortages, which Mr Putin has vowed to alleviate with increased sea deliveries to the peninsula.

The Ukrainian military appears determined to throw a wrench in the Russian leader’s plans. It says it has struck dozens of vessels — tankers, cargo ships and auxiliary boats — as part of an effort to “systematically disrupt the enemy’s logistics chain.”

The New York Times was unable to verify Ukraine’s claim that it had damaged or destroyed 116 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov in the past nine days. Russia has acknowledged only a handful of attacks on its ships. The Times verified strikes on at least 11 vessels in the Sea of Azov, but the true number is most likely higher.

Tomas Alexa, an analyst at Ambrey, a maritime consultancy, said that from footage posted by the Ukrainian military on social media, it appeared that Ukraine hit 30 to 35 Russian vessels last week just between Monday and Thursday, mostly in the Sea of Azov.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said the first round of strikes in the Sea of Azov had ended and that it had begun targeting Russian ships in the neighbouring Black Sea.

It was not clear what the vessels in the Sea of Azov were transporting. Leaking fluids were observed in satellite images reviewed by the Times, and Russian authorities said at least one vessel was carrying methanol.

Ukraine has said its attacks are intended in part to disrupt Russia’s lucrative oil exports. But only smaller vessels tend to transit the relatively shallow Sea of Azov, and that indicates that the Russian ships were most likely bringing supplies to Crimea, not carrying oil abroad, said Elisabeth Braw, a fellow at the Atlantic Council who studies Russia’s maritime operations.

Ukraine’s drone campaign in and near Crimea dovetails with Ukrainian strikes on refineries deep inside Russia, which have caused gasoline shortages across the country.

With peace talks dormant, Ukraine is trying to force a conclusion to the war by bringing it home to Russia. The strikes in Crimea, a region particularly dear to Putin, are a lynchpin of the campaign. Ukraine has even come up with a slogan: Moscow Will Fall Through Crimea.

As Ukraine has attacked Russian refineries and trucks ferrying fuel to Crimea, Russia has been forced to turn to boats to supply Crimean ports through the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian commanders said they had been watching in anticipation of this shift toward sea routes.

A number of Ukrainian military units have been involved in the strikes against Crimea. For the 9th Kairos Battalion of the 414th Unmanned Systems Brigade, planning for the campaign to cut off the peninsula began in the spring and was conceived as three phases.

First came the attacks against land routes on and into the peninsula, then strikes on large stockpiles. The third phase, focused on sea lanes, began last week, when it became clear that the Russian vessels were exposed and vulnerable, said Fin, a senior sergeant in the brigade. He gave only his call sign in keeping with military protocol.

To reach the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian soldiers have to pilot their drones roughly 400km, navigating Russian air defences and electronic warfare. Over the sea, Fin said, they fly just above the waterline to evade radar and hit their targets.

There is no indication that Ukraine’s Crimea campaign has swayed Russia. The Kremlin has expressed defiance, unleashing punishing ballistic missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and vowing to press forward in its efforts to capture more territory in eastern Ukraine.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned the attacks, calling them worse than piracy. And Russian pro-war commentators and bloggers have angrily accused Russia’s top brass of failing to protect vessels in the Sea of Azov.

Voenny Osvedomitel, one influential blogger, urged action and struck a pessimistic note.

“If things keep going this way, we are going to end up with a Strait of Hormuz of our own, where Ukraine will play Iran and we’ll be the US,” he wrote on Telegram. “Our ships simply won’t be able to get to Crimea and back unharmed by the drones.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.