Newsletters
Ukraine said Friday it struck a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker with drones in neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea in what Kyiv called an "unprecedented" operation more than 2,000 kilometers (1,242.74 miles) from Ukrainian territory.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said aerial drones hit the crude oil tanker Qendil, causing critical damage that rendered it inoperable.
"This is a new, unprecedented special operation," an SBU source told Ukrainian media outlet RBC-Ukraine, describing it as Kyiv's first attack on a Russian tanker in the Mediterranean.
The SBU said the tanker was not carrying any cargo at the time of the attack, meaning the strike posed no threat to the environmental situation in the region.
"Russia used this tanker to circumvent sanctions and earn money that was used for the war against Ukraine," the SBU source said, adding that, "Therefore, from the point of view of international law and the laws and customs of war, this is an absolutely legitimate target for the SBU."
"The enemy must understand that Ukraine will not stop and will beat him anywhere in the world, wherever he is," the source added.
Russian sources claimed the attack on the Qendil allegedly killed two people and wounded seven, reporting that the vessel was carrying officials and GRU military intelligence personnel involved in drone espionage. This information has not been verified.
Footage reportedly showed the Russian shadow fleet tanker burning in the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean strike follows recent SBU attacks on two other Russian shadow fleet tankers, Kairos and Virat, which were hit by Sea Baby drones with reinforced warheads in the Black Sea near the Bosphorus Strait.
That operation was conducted jointly by the 13th Main Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy.
The 274-meter tanker Kairos exploded and caught fire while sailing from Egypt to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, with the incident occurring 28 nautical miles off the Turkish coast, according to the Turkish Ministry of Transport.
The Virat was hit by an explosion about 35 nautical miles off the Turkish coast, further east in the Black Sea.
Russia has built up a shadow fleet of hundreds of tankers since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. These vessels, often registered in countries unrelated to Russia, carry Russian oil from Baltic and Black Sea ports despite Western sanctions.
Set as preferred source
2 min read
1 min read
