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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday that Ukrainian forces struck two Russian shadow fleet oil tankers at the entrance to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
He vowed to expand Kyiv's long-range strike capabilities as the drone war between the two countries intensified across multiple fronts.
"Our warriors continue to apply sanctions against Russia's shadow oil fleet, two such vessels were struck in the waters at the entrance to the port of Novorossiysk," Zelenskyy said in a statement on X.
"These tankers had been actively used to transport oil, not anymore," he declared.
Zelenskyy credited Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov for leading the operation, along with counterintelligence officers of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy.
Ukraine's General Staff recently claimed that the sanctioned tanker Marquise was struck on April 29 by two kamikaze marine drones launched by a Ukrainian Navy unit.
The vessel, sailing under a Cameroonian flag and with a cargo capacity exceeding 37,000 tons, was operating approximately 210 kilometers southeast of the Russian city of Tuapse without an active AIS signal at the time of the strike and was believed to be awaiting offshore loading from another vessel.
The Marquise is operated by Lidoil DMCC of the UAE, according to Ukraine's military intelligence portal War & Sanctions. Since December 2023, the vessel had been engaged in exporting Russian-origin oil and petroleum products, including through deceptive shipping practices in the Kerch Strait and ports in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The ship is under sanctions imposed by Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada.
Ukrainian drones also struck Russia's Baltic Sea oil export terminal at Primorsk on Sunday, temporarily setting it on fire before the blaze was extinguished, according to Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko.
No oil spill was reported.
Drozdenko said more than 60 drones were downed overnight over the region.
Primorsk is one of Russia's largest oil export gateways, with a handling capacity of 1 million barrels per day.
Ukraine's army launched at least 334 drones at Russia overnight, according to Russia's Defense Ministry. Other Russian regions, including Moscow, Smolensk, and Leningrad, also reported drone attacks.
Russia launched 268 drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile in an overnight attack on Ukraine, according to Ukraine's Air Force Command.
The attack employed Shahed, Italmas and Gerbera-type drones.
Ukrainian forces neutralized the missile and 249 of the drones, the Air Force said in a statement.
The attacks killed two people in Odesa, including a truck driver at a port, and injured five others, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported.
Three people were wounded in the Kharkiv region.
"Enemy drones hit three residential buildings, and two more were damaged," Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said, adding, "Facilities and equipment for the port infrastructure were also damaged."
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