Ukrainian drone strikes force Russia to suspend shipping in Sea of Azov

Russia has been forced to suspend shipping in the Sea of Azov after 90 vessels were targeted by Ukrainian drones in less than a week. On Sunday, Ukraine's drone forces chief, Robert Brovdi, said his units had hit 10 tankers and four ferries overnight, as well as a major oil refinery in the city of Syzran. There were multiple strikes on electricity sub-stations in occupied Crimea, he added.

"The technological humiliation of the [Russian] empire continues. It will fall because of Crimea," Brovdi wrote on social media. He said Moscow's shadow fleet, which transports sanctioned oil products around the world, was "noticeably shrinking" and could no longer use the Kerch strait, connecting the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea.

The Sea of Azov is a vital waterway that connects Russia with eastern Europe. It is of crucial economic and military importance to Moscow, which uses it to ship oil, grain and other products such as steel to international markets.

Russia suspended shipping through the Don-Azov canal on Friday, Reuters reported. The canal connects with a Russian river network and the Caspian Sea. This export route via Kerch and the Bosphorus strait in Turkey is effectively shut down.

Ukraine's former defence minister, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, said the Kremlin had lost control of a "critical" maritime corridor. He said the blockade affected military vessels and shipping transporting grain stolen from occupied southern Ukraine and moved through the ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol.

"The Caspian Sea doesn't have any connection to the world's oceans. It has turned into a lake. All of its products – agricultural, fertiliser, whatever – go through this channel and river," Zagorodnyuk said. Russia's small flotilla in the Caspian was likewise trapped, he added, predicting further strikes on Russian ships in and around the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Ukraine has been systematically destroying much of Russia's radar and anti-aircraft defences. This has enabled it to carry out a series of devastating long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries, including one last week in the Siberian city of Omsk, 2,700km from Ukrainian territory.

Repeated Ukrainian attacks have forced the authorities in Crimea to declare a state of emergency. Widespread electricity blackouts and acute petrol shortages have been reported and the peninsula's tourist industry has collapsed.