Ukrainian drones hit Russia's shadow fleet tanker in Mediterranean Sea for the first time, source says
Ukrainian drones struck a tanker in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Russia's sanction-busting shadow fleet, a source in Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on Dec. 19.
The attack, first of its kind, is the latest in Kyiv's new campaign targeting Russian oil tankers.
In "a new unprecedented special operation" in neutral waters more than 2,000 kilometers from Ukraine, Russia's QENDIL tanker sustained "critical damage" and can no longer be used for its intended purpose, the source claimed.
A video shared by the source shows a series of explosions on a vessel that the agency identifies as the tanker QENDIL. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the video or the claim. Moscow has not reacted to Ukraine's alleged drone attack. Both sides rarely admit setbacks in the war.
"Russia used this tanker to circumvent sanctions and earn money that financed the war against Ukraine," the source told the Kyiv Independent.
"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 shadow fleet consists of tankers that rely on opaque ownership, flags of convenience, and irregular shipping practices to move Russian oil despite Western restrictions.
Outmanned and outgunned on the front, Ukraine has turned to striking targets deep inside Russia or in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories — or on the sea — with domestically produced drones, in an attempt to slowly grind down Moscow's war machine.
Ukraine has recently ramped up its attacks on Russian tankers, with the SBU claiming to have struck two sanctioned Russian oil tankers, Kairos and Virat, off Turkey's Black Sea coast in late November. The SBU said on Dec. 10 that it used Sea Baby naval drones to strike an oil tanker from Russia's shadow fleet in the Black Sea, claiming that it had critically damaged the ship.
The SBU source said that the recent long-range drone strike conducted by its Alpha unit has not caused environmental damage, as the tanker was empty at the time of the alleged attack.
