Ukrainian drones struck Russian oil production and storage sites, pumping infrastructure and loading points as the campaign reached vessels in the Sea of Azov, where the Rostov governor said two empty tankers were damaged, caught fire and were evacuated without crew casualties; that attribution supports two tanker fires, not the unsupported search-result claim that 12 vessels were hit. [1][2][3]

The shift does not close the defensive deficit documented July 8, when the paper found that Ukraine's interceptor shortage left 29 ballistic missiles unanswered; it adds a different fact by showing Ukraine imposing costs across Russia's oil route while still lacking enough protection in its own sky.

Al Jazeera connected attacks on production, depots, pumping and loading with the tanker fires, while Reuters bounded the vessel evidence to two empty tankers and ABC placed land facilities and ships in the same campaign; together, the reports establish a chain from oil production through transport without establishing the tankers' ownership, damage or operational effect. [1][2][3]

No verified X post supports calling this a shadow-fleet war, and facility-level claims still require facility-level confirmation; the evidence shows an expanded target set and two tanker fires, not 12 hit vessels or a proven campaign against a named fleet, while any interruption to loading, transit, insurance or port operations remained separately unproved on Thursday in the available reports.

-- KATYA VOLKOV, Moscow