Shadow fleet tanker reportedly ablaze near Russian port city Sochi

A ship is burning on the Black Sea near the Russian port city of Sochi, Russian independent media Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on Oct. 6, citing Russian Telegram channels.

The ship might have been attacked by naval drones, Novaya Gazeta Europe said, while Russian authorities have not commented on the incident. Meanwhile, fire and thick black smoke can be seen above the city in videos published on social media.

Russian Telegram channels said that the vessel in question might be the Liberia-flagged tanker Aframax Rea. The online marine traffic data provider MarineTraffic last located the ship 23 hours ago on the Black Sea near the border between Russia and Georgia, close to Nizhneimeretinskaya Bay.

The vessel is a large crude oil tanker and was included on Ukraine's sanctions list as part of Russia's shadow fleet on Feb. 12, 2026.

Sochi has increasingly come under Ukrainian drone attacks over the past year, with strikes on its port and an oil depot reported in September alone. The city is around 650-700 kilometers (400-435 miles) from the Ukrainian border in Russia's Krasnodar Krai region.

Earlier on Oct. 6, a Russian strike on a merchant vessel flying the Marshall Islands flag in the Black Sea killed at least one crew member and injured several others, according to Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper. The vessel was carrying rapeseed oil and was damaged in the strike, with a fire breaking out in the superstructure.

Separately, two merchant ships, the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan and the Palau-flagged Able, were hit by drones of unknown origin about 112 kilometers (70 miles) off Bulgaria's coast on Oct. 6, according to Bulgarian broadcaster Nova. The incident is believed to be the first reported drone attack on commercial shipping inside Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone.

In a post on Telegram on Oct. 6, President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Ukrainian forces were behind the strikes near Bulgaria.

Russian forces attacked a civilian cargo ship sailing under the Liberian flag at a port near Odesa in the Black Sea on Oct. 3, killing one.

Since mid-July, Russia has intensified its attacks on Odesa's ports and adjacent infrastructure. Although the ports remain technically open, fewer ships now dare to enter this new maritime kill zone.

"The ports are almost blocked," says Dmytro Barinov, president of the Ukrainian Ports Association Ukrport.