The Ukrainian Armed Forces Sank The "pirate" Dry Cargo Ship ALFA-1

• 29.08.2026, 14:47

He was transporting stolen Ukrainian coal.

On the night of August 29, the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out airstrikes on Russian targets in the temporarily occupied territory of Mariupol. The dry cargo ship “ALFA-1,” which has been used repeatedly to transport stolen Ukrainian coal, sustained damage, according to Pyotr Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of the Occupation, as reported by “Dialog”.

According to him, the dry cargo ship “ALFA-1,” flying the Russian flag, entered the port of occupied Mariupol on the evening of Friday, August 28. Information about this quickly reached the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. On the night of August 29, an airstrike was carried out against the Russian pirate vessel, resulting in serious damage and rendering it completely inoperable.

The operation was carried out between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. by unmanned aerial systems of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Initial information about the vessel’s entry into the port was provided by Ukrainian partisans, and the entire operation was coordinated by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

The vessel “ALFA-1” had previously been used to transport coking coal—stolen by the Russian occupation administration—out of occupied Mariupol. According to information from the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, this pirate ship transported over 20,000 metric tons of coking coal between 2024 and 2025. Russia uses the coal stolen from Ukraine as fuel for thermal power generation and to support the military economy.

The dry cargo ship “ALFA-1” is registered in the Russian port of Taganrog and has a deadweight of 8,764 metric tons. The ship’s owner is listed as a company registered in the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk.