Ukraine Strikes Russian Naval Logistics with Drones
In 18 days of July, 196 vessels were hit, while President Tokayev publicly urged Putin in Omsk to return to Istanbul negotiations due to threatened oil exports.
In 18 days of July, 196 vessels were hit, while President Tokayev publicly urged Putin in Omsk to return to Istanbul negotiations due to threatened oil exports.
In the first 18 days of July 2026, Ukraine struck 196 vessels supporting Russian naval logistics in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea using unmanned aerial vehicles, reports Ukrainska Pravda. Of these, 126 vessels were hit in the Sea of Azov and 70 in the Black Sea, as part of Operation MoLoChKa, whose name derives from the Ukrainian acronym "Moskva Lyahe Cherez Krym" (Moscow will fall through Crimea). The operation aims to complicate the supply of occupied Crimea and the transport of oil.
According to a report from the Suriyak Maps channel, during the last week of July, Russian forces took full control of the cities of Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka. In Chasiv Yar, fighting continues in the western suburbs, while Russian troops near Kostiantynivka are advancing toward Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka and penetrating the outer streets of that settlement. Additionally, control was established over the settlements of Rozkishne and Dovha Balka, ending the battles for the Ilyinivka hromada.
Finnish YLE reports that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev publicly called for a freeze of the conflict in Ukraine during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Omsk. "Perhaps this conflict should already be frozen and we should return to the Istanbul format 2.0, because significant results were achieved there," said Tokayev, referring to the 2022 negotiations. He emphasized that he does not wish to be a mediator because "the great Russian people do not need mediators in resolving their own affairs." According to YLE, Putin listened to the statement with a stony face, and the Kremlin later conveyed that freezing the conflict is out of the question.
Kazakhstan, which produces about two percent of the world's daily oil, sends more than 80 percent of its oil exports through the CPC pipeline to the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. Ukrainian attacks on that port and tankers directly threaten Kazakhstan's oil industry. On Monday, Kazakhstan announced that the pipeline resumed operations after a week-long halt, but by Thursday, oil loading in Novorossiysk was suspended again.
YLE reminds that Kazakhstan under Tokayev's leadership maintained a certain distance from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The country did not recognize the occupied territories as part of Russia, sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and hosted hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled mobilization in the fall of 2022. At the same time, Kazakhstan did not impose sanctions on Russia, which allowed Kazakh entrepreneurs to profitably mediate the delivery of Western products to Russia. Due to the fuel shortage in Russia caused by Ukrainian attacks, Kazakhstan tightened border controls to prevent Russians from buying cheaper fuel, Russian citizens can now enter the country only once a day.
Kazakhstan's reputation as a safe haven was shaken in February 2026 when authorities deported Ukrainian IT specialist Oleksandr Katshurkyn to Russia, where he was charged with treason. According to YLE, this case suggests that Moscow's pressure on Astana is intensifying. At the same time, tensions in the global oil market are further exacerbated by the US-Iran war, which hampers transport through the Strait of Hormuz, while Western oil companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil are lobbying Ukraine to avoid attacks on infrastructure linked to Kazakh oil.
