Rubio voices concern over Ukrainian strikes on US-linked vessels
Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Getty Images)
Russian vessels linked to the United States have repeatedly become targets of attacks by Ukraine over the past few months, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News.
According to Rubio, such incidents may have occurred unintentionally. At the same time, Washington believes the situation cannot be ignored.
"Over the last few months, on a number of occasions American-linked ships, American oil supplies, have been targeted - probably not deliberately - but targeted nonetheless by Ukraine," he said.
Rubio stressed that the United States cannot allow similar incidents to happen again.
"That needs to be addressed. We can't have that happen," the US Secretary of State added.
Russian vessels linked to the United States have repeatedly become targets of attacks by Ukraine over the past few months, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said pic.twitter.com/1HevaJwLe1
— RBC-Ukraine (@NewsUkraineRBC) September 22, 2026
What preceded this
The US has already raised concerns about attacks on vessels in the Black Sea. In late July, Washington called on Ukraine not to attack non-Russian vessels after a tanker chartered by US company Chevron was damaged in one of the attacks.
Later, Bloomberg reported that Ukraine had agreed not to strike certain non-Russian tankers and infrastructure facilities in the Black Sea that are important for the export of Kazakh oil.
At the same time, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces continue Operation MoLoChKa against Russia's shadow fleet.
According to Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Ukrainian forces have hit 285 vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov over the 10 weeks of the operation.
