Claim
Russian Ministry of Defense claims it hit Ukrainian power substations and three ships in the Black Sea; The Moscow Times report did not provide independent confirmation of the claims.
Attributed to Russia
Evidence
The Moscow Times article (Nov. 8, 2026) exists and reports the Russian Defense Ministry's claim. It says overnight strikes hit three cargo vessels, including a container ship near Odesa and another in Chornomorsk, and two power substations in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions. The article carries the line that Reuters could not independently verify the claims. The same story ran on U.S. News and gCaptain. Ukrainian power company DTEK said a Russian attack on energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk left more than 600,000 people without power. That confirms an attack on energy infrastructure but not the ministry's description of the targets. I found no independent confirmation of the ship strikes and no Reuters, AFP, Bellingcat or EUvsDisinfo fact-check of this claim.
Supporting sources
Assessment
The claim is accurately described as a Russian Defense Ministry assertion that outside reporting could not verify. Only the Dnipropetrovsk power outage is independently reported; the ship strikes and the military-industrial character of the substations have no independent corroboration.
Confidence
Some independent corroboration was found, but it isn't yet conclusive.
Timeline
Nov 9, 2026, 10:34 AM UTC
UnverifiedInitial assessment.
First observed Nov 9, 2026, 10:34 AM UTC · Last reviewed Nov 9, 2026, 10:34 AM UTC