Ukraine Claims 300 Shadow Fleet Vessels Disabled in 11-Week Drone Campaign

Ukraine’s drone-force commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi said on September 22, 2026, that Operation MoLoChKa had left 300 vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet unable to move under their own power. It was an 11-week Ukrainian military claim, not an independently verified count. The announcement coincided with US warnings about strikes affecting American-linked shipping ahead of a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the UN. 115414

Where the operation ran—and how the tally grew

Brovdi said the drone operation began July 6 and targeted vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. His September 22 breakdown put 166 vessels in the Black Sea and 134 in the Sea of Azov, for a reported total of 300. He also claimed the campaign had severely constrained traffic in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait; that assessment, like the vessel count, comes from Ukraine. 16

The reported count increased in stages:

• Early August: Brovdi had put the tally at 218. 19
• After ten weeks: He reported 285 vessels hit. 7
• September 22, after eleven weeks: He said 300 had been disabled. 16

Those figures show how Ukraine’s reported tally changed. They do not independently confirm the condition or identity of each vessel. 15

Why Rubio raised the shipping issue

On September 22, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukrainian strikes had targeted American-linked ships and oil supplies on multiple occasions in recent months, though he believed that was probably unintentional. He said the issue needed to be addressed. Rubio did not, in the available reporting, identify those vessels as part of the MoLoChKa count; reporting also does not establish repeated hits on US-flagged or US-owned ships. 49

Washington and Kyiv had previously discussed avoiding strikes on non-Russian tankers and energy infrastructure connected to US interests. That made the distinction between pressure on Russia-linked shipping and risks to other commercial traffic diplomatically important, without proving that the two sets of incidents were the same. 9

The energy-ceasefire proposal

Rubio also backed an energy-infrastructure ceasefire under which Russia would stop striking Ukrainian infrastructure and Ukraine would stop striking Russian energy supplies. It was a proposal for reciprocal restraint, not an agreement already in force. 3

After meeting Trump at the UN on September 22, Zelenskyy said they had discussed a possible energy ceasefire with Russia. Ukraine’s position, he said, was that it was ready to halt attacks on Russian energy facilities if Moscow did the same. The maritime campaign and the proposed energy truce were distinct issues, but together they framed the question facing Kyiv: how to maintain pressure on Russia while addressing US concerns about shipping and energy strikes. 149