Zelensky hailed a long-range operation in the Caspian Sea, claiming Ukrainian forces struck a Russian warship and vessels tied to Iran-linked military logistics.
Ukraine’s forces struck a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
“We also achieved very strong results with long‑range strikes in the Caspian Sea – including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran,” he said on X.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, condemned a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying on Saturday it resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another.
Tehran described the incident as an act of aggression and said it would defend its national interests and security, while accusing Ukraine of seeking to expand the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ukraine targeted a weapons plant in Kirov, an oil refinery in Tyumen, a Wildberries logistics center in Yekaterinburg, a fuel depot in Rostov-on-Don, and Caspian Sea vessels used for Russia-Iran military shipments.
Russian officials confirmed drone incidents causing fires and evacuations but reported quick resolutions with no casualties.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned a hit on what it called an Iranian commercial vessel, reporting one sailor killed and another injured, and summoned Ukraine’s envoy. The operation marks a milestone in Ukraine’s drone campaign, disrupting Russia’s fuel logistics and supply chain with Iran.
The report from Ukraine comes on the heels of a recent statement from US President Donald Trump to Truth Social on Friday, in which he claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin assured him that Russia was not selling weapons to Iran.
“If they did, it would be very bad for them – certainly not in their best interests,” Trump emphasized in the post.
Despite Trump’s confidence in Putin’s claims regarding arms sales to Iran, recent reports from US intelligence sources indicated that Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf might have received Russian assistance, potentially involving the provision of targeting information or advanced drone technology.
According to the Reuters report, at least two CIA facilities were struck in March, one of which was the CIA station in Saudi Arabia, located within the US embassy in Riyadh, while another was based in eastern Iraq.
These US intelligence sources informed Reuters that firm conclusions about Russian involvement in the attacks have not yet been reached.
However, they noted the strikes’ effectiveness and precision, as well as Russia’s broad technical support for Iran, as potential evidence of this involvement.
While Russian support for Iran is longstanding, the specific targeting of sensitive CIA sites would suggest that Moscow is willing to escalate its efforts to disrupt US operations as Washington continues to face challenges in trying to bring the conflict involving Iran to an end.
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