---
title: "\"Ukraine Must Strike the Russian Shadow Fleet: How to build a blue-water capability fast and cheap\""
description: "\"Ukraine Must Strike the Russian Shadow Fleet: How to build a blue-water capability fast and cheap\""
---

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# ["Ukraine Must Strike the Russian Shadow Fleet: How to build a blue-water capability fast and cheap"](https://mackinderforum.org/articles/ukraine-must-strike-the-russian-shadow-fleet-how-to-build-a-blue-water-capability-fast-and-cheap)

 Written by [admin](https://mackinderforum.org/articles/author/plainofmiggido) | Oct 7, 2025 1:50:53 PM

By Michael  Hochberg

The below paragraph is taken from "Ukraine Must Strike the Russian Shadow Fleet: How to build a blue-water capability fast and cheap" published on the Longwalls Substack on October 6, 2025

"A quick note:

Over the past couple of years, I’ve written extensively about the need for [Ukraine to strike oil and gas infrastructure](https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/07/06/grand_strategy_for_world_war_iii_weaponizing_oil_and_gas_1042635.html), and about the need for US allies to [have deep strike capabilities](https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/10/11/distributed_deterrence_trusting_our_allies_more_and_ourselves_less_985267.html). These articles are useful background for today’s post.

Yesterday, Ukraine successfully used a USV to [strike a major Russian oil export terminal](https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-drones-hit-largest-oil-terminal-in-russian-occupied-crimea/). The increasing [pace of attacks](https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/10/05/ukraines-hellfire-is-intensifying-the-kremlins-fuel-crisis) on Russian oil infrastructure, if it can be maintained, will give Ukraine real leverage.

—----------------------------------------------------

Russia [pays](https://oec.world/en/profile/country/rus) for their war in Ukraine primarily by selling or [trading](https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/how-china-secretly-pays-iran-for-oil-and-avoids-u-s-sanctions-b6f1b71e?mod=djem10point) commodities - oil, gas, coal and gold - on the world market. These commodities go, first and foremost, to China, though India, Turkey, and many other countries also [continue to buy them ](https://ember-energy.org/latest-updates/russian-gas-imports-to-the-eu-jump-by-18-in-2024-despite-plan-for-2027-phase-out/)in massive quantities."

To read the rest of the article please [click here](https://longwalls.substack.com/p/ukraine-must-strike-the-russian-shadow?r=39gbb5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true)

[View full post](https://mackinderforum.org/articles/ukraine-must-strike-the-russian-shadow-fleet-how-to-build-a-blue-water-capability-fast-and-cheap)

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