Drones attacked four vessels, including a tanker carrying methanol, in Russia's Taganrog Bay on 11 July, killing one sailor aboard a technical vessel, Rostov Oblast governor Yuri Slyusar wrote on Telegram.

The strike comes as Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian tankers elsewhere in the region: over five days, strikes hit 48 Russian vessels near Crimea.

The campaign has increasingly targeted tankers, cargo ships, ferries, and other vessels that Ukraine says transport fuel and military supplies sustaining Russian forces after repeated strikes degraded road and rail supply routes to the occupied peninsula.

Casualties and damage

The sailor killed served aboard a technical vessel, Slyusar said. No other injuries were reported.

The four vessels struck were of "various purposes," Slyusar said, and sustained only "minor damage." One of them was a tanker carrying methanol; Slyusar said there was no threat of a leak or spill of the substance.

Air defense response

Air defense units downed more than 15 drones during the attack, according to Slyusar. The strike targeted the city of Taganrog and the Azov and Neklinovsky districts of Rostov Oblast.

Slyusar said drone danger remained active in Rostov Oblast at the time of his post and urged residents to move away from open streets, take shelter indoors, and stay away from windows.