UAV event in Kerch area, Ukraine on Sun 21st June 2026

Ukrainian Defense Forces targeted at least three ferries near Port Kavkaz in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai.

Several Russian propaganda Telegram channels, including the Military Informer Telegram channel, as well as Ukrainian and international OSINT analysts, including Exilenova+ and Intelschizo, reported on this.

Released footage shows at least three ferries engulfed in flames. In total, about seven vehicle and rail ferries of this type were used on the Kerch ferry crossing.

According to Intelschizo, one of the hit vessels was the railway ferry Elena II. When Ukraine disabled three operating Russian ferries in June 2024, this vessel had not yet arrived in the Black Sea.

Before being sold to Russia, Elena II operated on domestic ferry routes in Greece, including between the mainland and Salamis Island and on the Rio-Antirrio route.

The Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rosmorport later acquired the vessel. Taman Maritime Transport Company LLC operates it and provides technical maintenance of the vessel in the waters of the ports of Kavkaz and Kerch and acts as its maritime agent.

Elena II officially started operating on Black Sea routes in June 2025 after a four-month stay in Sevastopol.

The vessel is also listed in the War&Sanctions database of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine as part of the logistics network supporting Russian invasion activities.

It is unknown whether Panagia, whose destruction was reported earlier, is among the hit ferries. It operated on the same route as Elena II.

On June 5, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported that Russian troops used the ferry to transport missiles for S-300/400 air defense systems. According to the channel, the ammunition was transported simultaneously with civilian vehicles.

Militarnyi previously reported that on the night of April 6, drones of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine targeted the Russian railway ferry Slavyanin, which was used for military logistics in the Kerch Strait.

The vessel played an important role in supporting the Russian military contingent on the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula.

The Defense Intelligence stated that the invaders used the Slavyanin ferry to transport fuel, weapons, military equipment, and ammunition to the peninsula.