Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had carried out long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea, targeting vessels used for military cargo shipments involving Iran as well as a warship.
“We also achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea — including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship,” Zelensky wrote on X.
He did not identify the vessels, specify their nationality or provide further details about the operation.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry later said Ukraine had attacked an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea early Saturday, causing an explosion that killed one crew member and wounded another.
“We strongly condemn the attack,” the ministry said. “It led to an explosion aboard the vessel, the death of one crew member and the injury of another.”
“The Ukrainian attack on the Iranian vessel is an act of aggression that threatens to inflame the situation and further expand the conflict,” it added.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said responsibility for the consequences rested with Zelensky’s government and its international supporters.
“It is clear that responsibility for the consequences of the Ukrainian president’s reckless actions lies with the regime and those supporting it,” the ministry said. “The Ukrainian regime’s attack on the Iranian commercial vessel demonstrates its hostile approach toward Iran.”
Zelensky described the Caspian operation as part of a broader series of Ukrainian strikes against targets across Russia that he said were supporting Moscow’s war effort.
“Ukraine continues applying long-range sanctions in response to Russian strikes,” he wrote. “Last night, the warriors of our Defense Forces hit targets across different regions of Russia that are fueling this war.”
According to Zelensky, Ukrainian forces again struck a plant in Kirov that supplies components for weapons used by Russia against Ukraine. He said the facility was about 1,200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
He also said Ukrainian forces targeted an oil refinery in Tyumen, a logistics facility in Yekaterinburg and a fuel and lubricants depot in Rostov-on-Don.
Zelensky did not provide evidence of the damage caused at those sites, and Russia did not immediately comment on his account of the strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
(Photo: AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Ukrainian president’s announcement came as Kyiv also accused Moscow of supplying Iran with satellite intelligence used to support Iranian attacks across the Middle East.
“Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and U.S. military facilities located there,” Zelensky wrote separately on X. “These images subsequently appear in Iran.”
He said Ukrainian authorities had identified a clear correlation between Russian satellite surveillance and Iranian strikes, both before attacks and afterward, when the imagery could be used to assess the damage.
“There is a clear correlation between Russia’s satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes — both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted,” he said.
Zelensky did not publicly release evidence supporting the allegation, and neither Russia nor Iran immediately responded to that claim.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Iran of supporting Russia’s war effort through the supply of Shahed attack drones and related technology. Iran has denied providing weapons for use in the war, while acknowledging that it supplied Russia with a limited number of drones before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Caspian Sea strikes represent a notable expansion of Ukraine’s long-range campaign against Russian military logistics and infrastructure, extending operations to vessels allegedly involved in military shipments connected to Iran.
First published: 21:48, 07.25.26