Ukrainian Drones Strike Makhachkala Port on the Caspian Sea for the First Time

The Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out a drone strike on the Makhachkala International Commercial Seaport on the Caspian Sea.

Exilenova+ published footage of the attack.

The strike took place overnight on September 10, 2026, with explosions reported in the port area and captured on video by local residents.

This was the first-ever attack on the city’s port infrastructure. Makhachkala is located about 1,000 kilometers from Ukraine’s border.

Fyodor Shchukin, the acting head of the Republic of Dagestan, confirmed the damage to the port. He stated that fires broke out at port infrastructure in Makhachkala as a result of falling drone fragments.

Due to its proximity to Iran, the port is an important hub for shipping across the Caspian Sea. It is also used to receive Iranian vessels carrying weapons and drones destined for Russia.

On August 14, 2025, Ukrainian defense forces attacked Port Olya-4, which was transporting components for Shahed kamikaze drones and ammunition from Iran.

In January 2026, the Iranian vessel Caspian Shiva was attacked in the Caspian Sea. Several other vessels have also come under attack.

In July 2026, Ukraine’s Security Service targeted several targets in the Caspian Sea.

The strike targeted the cargo vessel Port Olya-2, owned by the sanctioned Russian company MG-FLOT LLC and used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia; the dry cargo ship Begey; and a Project 12418 Molniya-class missile boat operated by the Russian Navy.

More videos from Dagestan https://t.co/dhd85nREiw

— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) September 10, 2026

The Makhachkala Commercial Seaport is Russia’s only ice-free deep-water port on the Caspian Sea. It operates year-round and handles both liquid and dry cargo. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the port has also seen a significant increase in cargo volumes.

In 2025, the port handled 3.5 million tonnes of various types of cargo, up 6.5–8% from the previous year. However, growth accelerated in early 2026. During the first four months of the year, cargo throughput reached 1.4 million tonnes – more than 48% higher than during the same period in 2025.

By the end of the first half of the year, the figure had risen to 2.11 million tonnes, up 50% from the same period last year. During the first eight months of 2026, the port handled more than 2.9 million tonnes of cargo, up 42.5% from the same period in 2025.

Liquid cargoes, primarily crude oil and petroleum products, drove most of this growth. During the first half of the year, throughput of these cargoes reached 1.5689 million tonnes, nearly doubling year-on-year.

The significant increase in Ukrainian Defense Forces activity against Russian shadow-fleet vessels transporting fuel and petroleum products in the Black and Azov seas has directly affected the shipping situation.

As a result, Russia has been forced to seek alternative routes to overcome the fuel crisis spreading across the country.

Militarnyi previously reported that in October 2025, strike drones successfully attacked the Dagnefteprodukt oil refinery in Makhachkala, Dagestan.