Russian forces are leveraging new jet-powered Banderol loitering munitions and Geran-4 Seeker drones in their strike campaigns against Ukraine’s Black Sea port infrastructure and railway infrastructure. Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk stated to Bloomberg on July 31 that 80 percent of recent Russian strikes against the ports in the greater Odesa City area have involved Banderol loitering munitions.[13] Vlasiuk stated that Russian forces aim to use the Banderol to fill the gap between their cheap, slow Shahed-type drones and the faster and more accurate Kh-101 cruise missiles. Vlasiuk noted that the cheap Banderol drones contain a 150-kilogram warhead that is bigger than a Shahed warhead and that the Banderol can fly faster than Ukrainian drone interceptors. Bloomberg added that the Banderol has a relatively short range of a few hundred kilometers, so Russian forces have been launching strikes on Odesa City from occupied Crimea.

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Russian strikes against Ukraine’s Black Sea port infrastructure continue to damage Ukraine’s grain export economy. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed on August 2 that Russian forces struck tanks with fuel at the Odesa City Port; two sea tugboats, port infrastructure, and two dry cargo ships in the Mykolaiv City Port; a dry cargo ship in the Black Sea eight kilometers east of Zatoka, Odesa Oblast; and another dry cargo ship in an unspecified area of the Black Sea on the night of August 1 to 2 and during the day on August 2.[81] Geolocated footage published on August 1 also shows damage to a rail bridge in Zatoka after a reported Russian strike.[82] Ukrainian Navy Spokesperson Captain Third Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk told Bloomberg on July 31 that Russian strikes have damaged more than 20 ships near the Black Sea and substantially slowed cargo flows in the shipping corridor.[83] The Economist reported on July 30 that Russian forces conducted at least 56 strikes against Odesa Oblast port infrastructure in July 2026, killing 26 port workers and sailors.[84]

The Economist noted that the recent Russian strike campaign against port infrastructure coincided with Ukraine’s harvest season, with Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky assessing that Ukraine will face a serious challenge if Russian forces double or triple their strikes in the future. Pletenchuk told The Economist that some Ukrainian air defenses have moved out to sea where Ukrainian forces have mounted machine guns on patrol boats. The head of Odesa City-based maritime services company Trident Maritime, Oleksiy Smolyar, stated that large shipping companies have been avoiding Ukraine since Spring 2026 as the costs of insurance and the high risk of losses have outweighed the fees. ISW continues to assess that Russia’s resumption of its strike campaign against Ukrainian port infrastructure along the Black Sea aims to degrade the Ukrainian economy, reduce Ukraine’s export capacity, and, in part, respond to Ukraine’s recent strike campaign against Russian vessels in the Azov and Black seas.[85]