Key facts
- Russia claims to have struck three cargo ships in the Black Sea and military factories across Ukraine.
- The Russian Defense Ministry stated the ships were delivering military goods.
- Ukraine reported Russian drone attacks on port infrastructure in Mykolaiv, damaging civilian vessels and causing casualties.
- Ukrainian officials reported that Russian attacks on Odesa and Mykolaiv ports killed at least three people and damaged vessels.
- Ukraine's seaports authority stated Russia had attacked Ukrainian ports and civilian vessels multiple times in July, resulting in 11 fatalities.
- Ukraine claimed to have struck 12 Russian vessels in the Black Sea on Friday.
Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that its forces had carried out overnight strikes on military factories across Ukraine, including in Kyiv and Lviv, and had struck three cargo ships in the Black Sea. The ministry stated that land, sea, and air-launched missiles, as well as strike drones, were used to hit facilities involved in the production and repair of Ukrainian drones and missiles. Specifically, it claimed to have struck the Mayak factory in Kyiv, the Electrical Technical Plant in Kyiv, the LORTA Aviation Factory in Lviv, two factories in Ivano-Frankivsk, and the Akvaplast factory in Kryvyi Rih.
Russia also claimed to have struck a cargo ship in the port of Yuzhnyi (also known as Pivdennyi) in the Odesa region that had delivered military goods, and two other cargo ships to the south and east of Odesa that were delivering arms and military equipment. Reuters could not independently confirm these battlefield reports.
In parallel, Ukrainian officials reported that Russian drone attacks on port infrastructure in Mykolaiv damaged three civilian foreign-flagged vessels and killed two Ukrainians on board. Another man was killed in a separate Russian attack on Odesa. The Odesa Regional Governor noted that a later strike hit a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, damaging it and injuring four of its 17 crew members, who were subsequently evacuated.
Ukraine's seaports authority indicated that Russia had attacked Ukrainian ports and civilian vessels multiple times in July, resulting in 11 fatalities, including port workers and foreign crew members. The intensified strikes have led to a partial halt in grain shipments. Meanwhile, Ukraine has also conducted its own strikes, with the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces reporting that Ukraine struck 12 Russian vessels in the Black Sea on Friday, bringing the total number of vessels struck in July to 159.