Russia Closes the Kerch Strait After 76 Ships Hit With Droneshttps://hotair.com/john-s-2/2026/07/11/russia-closes-the-kerch-strait-after-76-ships-hit-with-drones-n3816862I've been writing all week about Ukraine's drone strikes on Russia's shadow fleet tankers in the Sea of Azov. Those strikes increased again last night bringing the total number of strikes on Russian vessels in the area to 76. Here's video from last night's attacks.
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Here's a useful map showing where these strikes are happening. The body of water in the center is the Sea of Azov. It's connected to the Black Sea by the Strait of Kerch where the arrows are pointing. That's where Putin built the Kerch bridge seen in the photo at the top of this post.
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Russia uses of fleet of shadow tankers to move oil and grain out of occupied Ukraine and Russia, through the Strait of Kerch and into the Black Sea. There the cargo is often moved onto larger ships which transport it around the world to buyers willing to look the other way on sanctions. This image below shows "Where Russian crude oil in the Black Sea was transported from during the EU and G7 Embargo / 2024." But as of this week, the Strait is closed.
The Kerch Strait and Bridge are critical not only for exports ($$$$b to fund Putin's invasion), but the Strait and Bridge are also critical, along with three bridges that have been taken out or seriously damaged, for supplying occupied Crimea.
