Ukrainian intelligence called it “the last Russian railway ferry in the Kerch Strait still afloat” — now it’s out of action too

Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) reported on 8 April to have put Russia's last remaining railway ferry in the Kerch Strait out of action, striking the Slavyanin with drones overnight into 6 April. HUR says the vessel was the final railway ferry of the Russian occupation forces in the strait still afloat. 

The strike

Drones from HUR's Active Operations Department hit the Slavyanin in the Kerch Strait overnight into 6 April. HUR described the operation as having "finished off" the vessel and called it "the last railway ferry of the occupiers in the Kerch Strait still afloat."

According to HUR, the Slavyanin had been supplying Russian forces in occupied Crimea with fuel and lubricants, weapons, military equipment, and ammunition.

The 6 April strike was not the first time Ukraine hit the Slavyanin and other Russian ferries in Kerch Strait. 

• In May 2024, Ukraine's missiles hit the Conro Trader and Avangard ferries. 
• In July 2024, the Slavyanin sustained damage at Port Kavkaz in Russia's Krasnodar Krai. 
• In August 2024, Ukraine again struck the Conro Trader loaded with fuel cars, with the country's Navy later confirming the destruction of the vessel, while calling it the last operational ferry. According to VesselFinder, the Conro Trader is "not in service since 2024." 
• The strikes resumed this year. In March 2026, HUR's Active Operations Department disabled the Avangard ferry in a strike that also damaged the Slavyanin.

The Slavyanin apparently remained operational after the March damage before Ukraine hit it again on 6 April.

Why the Slavyanin ferry mattered

Ukrainian strikes early in the all-out war damaged the railway section of the Kerch Bridge, forcing Russia to restrict heavy loads on it. Ferries then became Russia's primary workaround for moving military rail cargo — fuel trains, vehicles, ammunition — between Russia's Port Kavkaz and occupied Kerch.

UK intelligence previously assessed the rail ferries as "the primary means of rail transportation for Russian fuel and ammunition train loads to Crimea." The Slavyanin has been the largest of the three rail ferry roll-on/roll-off vessels Russia operated in the strait.