Ukrainian naval drones attacked two oil tankers belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” as they transited the Black Sea, Ukrainian officials said.
Footage seen by the BBC shows a water drone crashing through waves into a ship before exploding in a fireball, sending black smoke into the air.
The tankers targeted were named Kairos and Virat by Turkish authorities, both of which were ported in Gambia. Both were attacked off the Turkish coast on Friday, with Virat reportedly attacked again on Saturday. No casualties were reported.
The attack appears to be an escalation of Kiev’s efforts to hit Russia’s oil revenues, which are essential to financing the war in Ukraine.
The two ships are reportedly part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ – a term for hundreds of oil tankers used by Russia to circumvent Western sanctions imposed following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Shadow Fleet is comprised mostly of older tankers, many of which have unclear ownership or insurance.
Kairos was attacked in the southwestern part of the Back Sea, and Virat was attacked in the central area further east. Both vessels are on the list of sanctioned vessels, according to London Stock Exchange data.
Sources told BBC Ukraine that Sea Baby drones were used in the attack. This drone is a type of naval drone produced by Ukraine’s security service, known as SBU.
Turkish authorities said they were assisting the vessel and released video showing two of their boats trying to put out the fire on the Kairos.
The attack is seen as a warning to Ukraine, suggesting that ships carrying Russian oil in the Black Sea could face the risk of direct attack as well as Western sanctions.
Separately, a major consortium that transports oil from the Caspian Sea region said it had halted shipments to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after it was attacked by an unmanned boat overnight.
The Caspian Sea Pipeline Consortium said the attack caused significant damage to mooring points. Russia and Kazakhstan are major stakeholders in the company, with Western companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell owning some shares.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that a delegation led by top security official Rustem Umerov was heading to the United States to continue talks on an agreement to end the war.
Umerov will lead the Ukrainian delegation following the resignation of Zelenskyy’s influential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, after anti-corruption investigators searched his apartment last Friday.
The Ukrainian delegation is expected to meet U.S. officials in Florida on Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to hold talks in Moscow next week.
