Ukraine claims responsibility for attack on strategic railway ferry in Kerch Strait

Ukrainian forces attacked a ferry terminal in the Russian port of Caucasus on Tuesday, killing one man and wounding others, the region’s governor said. The Ukrainian navy claimed responsibility for the attack and said it caused “significant damage” to a railway ferry.

The service identified the ship as Slavyanina 500-foot-long cargo ferry crossing the Kerch Strait. Slavyanin was the last cargo ship in the region suitable for transporting goods and an important part of the Russian ammunition supply chain for the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Slavyanin in 2023 (Image courtesy of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy)

Ukraine’s information could not be immediately verified, but the governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, reported that the port of Caucasus was attacked by a drone during the night.

Slavyanin was a strategic target for Ukrainian forces. Following repeated Ukrainian attacks on the bridge over the Kerch Strait, the Russian military has attempted to keep dangerous goods off the roads and rails in hopes of minimizing the risk of a secondary explosion or devastating fire in the event of another attack. Critical military supplies have been diverted to the nearby rail ferry at Kavkaz for safety reasons. This critical Russian logistics link has made the Kavkaz ferries and associated infrastructure a priority target.

A series of Ukrainian missile attacks in late May reportedly damaged the fuel depot in Kavkaz and two other ferries on that route.

The Soviet era Slavyanin was previously operating on a route between the Russian Caucasus and Bulgaria and was apparently relocated to the Kerch Strait this year. The vessel was rammed by a bulk carrier off the coast of Bulgaria in November 2023, damaging three ballast tanks.