Russian military forces targeted maritime shipping on Sept. 19, striking a cargo vessel and a tanker. The Russian Defence Ministry reported via state media that the attacks hit a cargo ship in the Black Sea and a tanker in one of Ukraine's ports, identifying the ships as Ukrainian assets.

The operation follows a Sept. 18 strike on a cargo vessel in Chornomorsk and a postal logistics hub near Odesa. On Sept. 17, drones hit a Tanzanian flagged vessel and the Turkish owned cargo ship M/V Mariam M in the Danube Delta, an attack that killed the captains of both ships and injured up to 13 crew members on the M/V Mariam M.