Russian Shadow Fleet in Flames

Yesterday, I mentioned that in addition to setting Russia’s largest refinery on fire, Ukraine had also carried out strikes on two Russian shadow fleet tankers in the Sea of Azov. It turns out that was just the start of a new approach to the shadow fleet. Overnight, Ukrainian drones hit 8 more tankers.

Ukrainian drones struck eight tankers from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” that were delivering fuel to Crimea overnight, Kyiv’s military said on Tuesday, part of a mounting effort to isolate the annexed peninsula.

In a statement on Telegram, Ukraine’s drone forces said they struck the vessels — each under international sanctions and with a deadweight of around 7,000 tons — in the Sea of Azov.

“Striking the enemy’s naval logistics complicates the supply of fuel and ammunition necessary to support the activities of Russian troops, primarily in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea,” Ukraine’s drone forces said.

As always, there is video. This one is a bit longer because there are so many targets.

Holy shit.

Madyar’s Birds took out 8 Russian tankers, 1 cargo ship, and 1 ferry from the shadow fleet in a single night (!).

At this point, Ukraine is effectively seizing control not only of the northern Black Sea, but of the entire Sea of Azov as well. pic.twitter.com/7Hj1DUVbu3

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) July 7, 2026

As of last night, the drones had hit 8 tankers plus one ferry and one cargo ship. Since then, Ukraine claims it hit two more tankers bringing the total strikes to 12.

🔥🚢According to Magyar, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, USF have just struck two more tankers in the Sea of Azov.

These are tankers No. 9 and No. 10 hit today, bringing the total to 12 Russian vessels struck in a single day. https://t.co/WusijagCwh

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) July 7, 2026

With every one of the strikes, the gasoline situation in Russian, and especially in Crimea, gets worse. This particular guy was ready to beat up some strangers so he could cut in line but had a gun drawn on him.

Russia’s increasingly violent fuel crisis moves on to the next stage, as gas station MMA battles are no longer a sufficient expression of the population’s fuel hungry delirium in these dying days of of the Putin regime.

Pump pandemonium, as guns are drawn.. pic.twitter.com/4mu4N9FZLZ

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) July 5, 2026

Unfortunately for him, one of the people he was threatening was some kind of government official. So he wound up being picked up by someone and forced to apologize in his underwear.

Act One – Scene Two

Twenty-four hours later, the same guy that’s already had a gun pulled on him, is kidnapped and pulled into an abandoned house, stripped to his underwear and forced to apologize.

Russian gasoline culture. pic.twitter.com/ZDLd1H6XtS

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) July 6, 2026

For those not willing to try and cut in line, the situation remains terrible.

The fuel situation in Russia’s Altai Mountains is currently very difficult. The region is grappling with massive shortages of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Causes of the crisis:

Consequences of the war: Ukrainian drones regularly strike refineries and storage facilities. As a… pic.twitter.com/4Y1LPlnnb8

— Jarek (@Jarek2025) July 7, 2026

Fuel shortages: Many stations are empty. This applies to dozens of regions in Russia.

Giant queues: Drivers wait in lines for up to 24 hours. Fights occur, and police and emergency services intervene at pumps.

Refueling limits: Stations are implementing rationing.  Drivers can fill up with anything from 15 to 60 liters at a time.

Prices: Fuel costs have skyrocketed. In some places, gasoline prices are breaking the psychological barrier of 100-300 rubles per liter.

Just to be clear, 300 rubles per liter works out to about $15 per gallon of fuel. People are paying that even though the average monthly salary in Russia works out to just over $1,000 USD. In other words 10 gallons of gas is about 15% of your monthly salary. And who only fills up the tank once a month?

Obviously, prices like that are going to stop many people from driving at all and that’s going to have an impact on the economy. But for those who have no choice, long lines are becoming normal.

Lines in the Irkutsk region have been so long that the authorities promised to install portable toilets along highways to serve the motorists. Igor Kobzev, the local governor, declared a state of high alert — one notch away from the state of emergency — on Sunday.

Together with her husband and their 18-month-old baby, Ms. Sadovnikova, the woman from Irkutsk, who works in social media, joined the line at one station at 11 p.m. last Friday. She did not get gas until 5 p.m. the next day. They used the station’s lavatories and shop for toilets and snacks. Other people in the line were supportive and shared food and toys with her son, she said.

“The whole thing was nerve-wrecking and exhausting,” Ms. Sadovnikova, 26, said, adding that she had to spend the following day sleeping because of the stress. “We’re trying to save the gas and hoping there’ll be more supplies by the time we run out again.”

In a normal society, people would get tired of this pretty quickly and blame the person responsible. In Russia, no one can say who is to blame but they definitely know.

Anyway, last night probably damaged more than 1% of Russia’s entire shadow fleet. That’s not bad for a single night. If Ukraine can bring that number to 10-15% it’s going to start having a major impact on Russia’s ability to sell oil, which is really the only thing it has to offer to keep the war machine and its struggling economy going.

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