Ukraine attack on Iranian vessel in Caspian Sea kills 1, Iran Foreign Ministry says
Iran said Ukraine attacked an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea on Saturday, killing one crew member and injuring another.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “strongly condemned” the attack, semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.
The Foreign Ministry “urged all parties concerned with peace and security in Eastern Europe to hold the Ukrainian leadership accountable for this provocative act,” Mehr wrote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X Saturday that the country’s defense forces 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.”
Overnight, Zelenskyy said, Ukrainian forces also struck a plant in Kirov, Russia that supplies components for the weapons Russia uses, and oil refinery in Tyumen, a logistics facility in Yekaterinburg, and a fuel and lubricants depot in Rostov‑on‑Don.
During its war with Ukraine, Russia has used drones designed by Iran. Ukraine, meanwhile, has given drone interception expertise to Middle Eastern countries that have been attacked by Iran.
Zelenskyy says Russia assisting Iran
Hours after posting about the strikes across different regions of Russia, Zelenskyy posted that since the beginning of July, Ukrainian officials have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf States and U.S. military bases. These images, Zelenskyy said, appear in Iran.
“At the same time, 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,” Zelenskyy said. “…None of us in the world should turn a blind eye to one very simple fact: evil always seeks ways to make things worse and spread further. Russia must be stopped. This war must be stopped.”
On July 19 and 20, Zelenskyy said, two U.S. military bases in Bahrain, one in Jordan, and one in Kuwait fell within the area of interest of Russian satellites.
The topic of Russia helping Iran came up at a congressional hearing this week in Washington, D.C., where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked about it, as well as whether China was also assisting Iran.
“There’s definitely adversary alignment, attempts to do so, and there are many ways that we deter that. And the depth and extent of it ought to remain classified, and it should,” Hegseth said, according to CBS News. “But there are ways in which both of those countries are limiting, at different levels, enabling some of the things Iran is doing, yes.”
President Donald Trump said on Friday, though, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both told him they would not sell weapons to Iran.
“If they did, it would be very bad for them — Certainly not in their best interests,” Trump said on Truth Social.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
