Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday, 8 November, that overnight strikes had hit three cargo vessels carrying military goods for Ukraine, along with two electricity substations, Reuters reported from Moscow. The report was republished by gCaptain.
What Russia claims
- A container ship that the ministry said was delivering weapons and military equipment to the Black Sea port of Odesa.
- A container ship in the port of Chornomorsk, in the same south-western region, which the ministry said was carrying dual-use cargo.
- A dry cargo ship hit south-west of Odesa, which the ministry said was carrying weapons and military equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces.
The ministry also said it struck two substations in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions that powered military-industrial enterprises.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the claims, and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine. The vessels were not named, and no casualty figures were reported.
Ukrainian power company DTEK said an overnight Russian attack on energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk left more than 600,000 people without electricity.
Rising risk for Black Sea shipping
The claims follow a run of attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea. On 25 October, Russia’s Defence Ministry said drones had struck a cargo vessel bound for Chornomorsk. After seven strikes on cargo ships near NATO members Romania and Bulgaria in October, NATO said it would deploy maritime patrol aircraft, radars and drones to strengthen its eastern flank in the Black Sea.
The attacks add to the risks facing seafarers on Black Sea routes, including crews from South Asia who serve widely on foreign-flagged bulk carriers and container ships.
Source: Reuters via gCaptain, 8 November 2026. Photo: file image of the Port of Odesa in 2017; not from the reported strikes.
