Ukraine sinks Rosatom cargo ship in Black Sea with drone strike, raising shipping and sanctions risks

Ukrainian naval drones struck and sank the Russian-flagged container ship Yanina in the Black Sea on the night of July 31, sending a Rosatom-controlled vessel to the bottom roughly 130 nautical miles from Novorossiysk. All 17 crew members were rescued safely. The ship was operated by FESCO, a major Russian logistics company that Rosatom has controlled since late 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly claimed the strike. Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev called the attack “piracy and maritime banditry.” The cargo, according to Rosatom, was civilian: frozen food and construction materials. A sanctioned fleet under fire FESCO operates a fleet of more than 30 vessels and manages a logistics network spanning ports and rail services. The company has been a Western sanctions target since the UK and EU imposed restrictions tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A planned stake sale of FESCO to DP World, the Dubai-based port operator, collapsed in 2025 specifically because of sanctions complications. The deal would have given FESCO a lifeline to international capital markets and operational partnerships. The Yanina sinking occurred in international waters, roughly 240 kilometers f...