Ukraine Pounds Russian Ships in Its Campaign to Cut Off Crimea
After striking roads and railways, Kyiv is now focusing on sea routes as it tries to disrupt fuel supplies and pressure Russia to end the war. By Nataliya Vasilyev and Marc Santora and Cassabra Marc Santora and Cassadra Vinograd reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. / July 15, 20 Ukraine has opened another front in its intensifying blockade of Crimea, striking growing numbers of Russian vessels in the waters near the occupied peninsula as it tries to heap pressure on the Kremlin to end the war. Kyiv is using its expanding arsenal of long-range drones to mount its largest campaign in the Sea of Azov since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Advances in technology have only recently brought the sea, which is surrounded by Russia and Russian-occupied territory, in reach of drones piloted by Ukrainian soldiers. These drones have been the backbone of weeks of attacks against Crimea as Ukraine tries to expose Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, as unable to defend the peninsula, which Russ...
