The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days, despite Putin's self-declared Victory Day "truce."
The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
A screenshot showing the 'Sea Baby' marine drone in the Black Sea on Aug. 16, 2023 (SBU/Telegram)
"Sea Baby" marine drones were used in recent attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Pavel Derzhavin and cruise missile carrier Buyan, an unnamed source told the Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske on Oct. 13.
The unnamed source told Hromadske that Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) worked together with the navy to pull off the attacks.
Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Oct. 12 that Pavel Derzhavin was damaged in an explosion, although he did not provide further details.
This is not the first time Sea Baby drones have been used to strike Russian military targets.
In July, Sea Baby drones were used by the SBU to strike the Kerch bridge.
In combination with sea drones, Ukrainian forces have used aerial drones, missiles, sabotage, and other methods to inflict significant damage on the fleet and Russian forces in occupied Crimea.
On Aug. 3, U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said that Ukrainian attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet have led to the "functional defeat" of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea.
Igor Kossov
