USF units hit Russian dry cargo vessel Leonid Pestrikov in occupied Berdiansk. VIDEO
Units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces hit the Russian dry cargo vessel Leonid Pestrikov, which was in the port of temporarily occupied Berdiansk.
This was reported by the 422nd Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment, which released a video of the combat operation, according to Censor.NET.
Details of the strike
"Preliminarily, colleagues struck it with a front-strike class UAV, but this was not enough for such a target. By decision of the commander of the 17th Army Corps, the 422nd Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment LUFTWAFFE was urgently involved, using a middle-strike Zozulia UAV with a 50-kg shaped-charge/high-explosive warhead," the statement said.
The vessel was significantly damaged. The scale of the damage and possible consequences for transport and routing in the port area are currently being assessed.
What is known about the vessel "Leonid Pestrikov"
- The Leonid Pestrikov is a Russian universal river-sea dry cargo vessel of the RSD59 project, which the aggressor country actively uses to transport general and bulk cargo (including grain, metal products, timber and oversized containers).
- Vessels of this type form the basis of Russia’s modernised merchant fleet and are regularly used by the occupiers in illegal logistics schemes in the Black Sea, Azov Sea and Mediterranean basins.
Because of their large hold capacity and ability to operate in shallow waters, such civilian dry cargo vessels regularly come under the scrutiny of monitoring groups. They have repeatedly been recorded transporting looted Ukrainian grain and metal from the occupied ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk, as well as delivering dual-use (military) cargo for the needs of the Russian army under the cover of commercial voyages.
In 2023, the vessel was sanctioned by the United States as part of restrictions against ships linked to Russian transport infrastructure. In 2025, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the vessel as an element of the "shadow fleet".
