By Alexei Doval &euro news
Release date
Ukraine on Friday attacked a Russian-linked oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea, marking the first time it has targeted a vessel of Russia’s Shadow Fleet in the Black Abroad, according to an official with Ukraine’s security agency SBU.
The Omani-flagged tanker Kendil was attacked by a drone from the air more than 2,000 kilometers from Ukrainian territory in what SBU officials described as an “unprecedented special operation.” Officials said the ship had sustained significant damage and could no longer be used.
The attack occurred in international waters in the eastern Mediterranean. According to ship tracking data, the Quendil’s last known location on Friday morning was off the coast of Crete, sailing parallel to the Libyan coast.
An SBU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ship was empty at the time of the attack and there was no threat to the environment. Video provided by the SBU showed several explosions on the tanker’s deck.
What do we know so far?
The Quendil left the Indian port of Sikka and was heading to the Russian Baltic port of Ustiluga, according to Marine Traffic ship tracking data.
The ship made a U-turn on Friday night more than 250 kilometers (250 kilometers) from the coasts of Greece and Libya, according to satellite images analyzed by AFP.
The tanker is not currently on the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list for Russian Shadow Fleet vessels, but maritime intelligence firms have identified it as posing a high sanctions risk.
“Russia used this tanker to evade sanctions and earn money spent on the war with Ukraine,” the SBU official said. “From the point of view of international law, the laws and customs of war, this is a perfectly legitimate target.”
The strike marks a significant expansion of Ukraine’s campaign against Russia’s energy infrastructure, which has so far focused on land-based targets such as refineries and oil rigs. In recent weeks, Ukraine has expanded its operations to maritime targets across multiple oceans.
In late November, Ukraine attacked two Russian Shadow Fleet tankers, the Kairos and the Virat, in the Black Sea near the Turkish coast with its SeaBaby naval drone.
Both ships were empty and headed to Russia’s Novorossiysk oil terminal to load crude oil. The Kairos caught fire and later ran aground off the coast of Bulgaria, while the Virat was damaged in two attacks.
Ukraine also attacked an oil platform in the Caspian Sea in December, marking the geographic expansion of Operation Deep Strike.
President Putin promises ‘response’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual press conference on Friday that the attacks on oil tankers would not disrupt supplies or achieve the intended results.
“Now we have received news that another tanker of our country was attacked in the Mediterranean Sea,” Putin said. “There will always be a response from us.”
Turkey has yet to comment on the Mediterranean attacks after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned in early December that the war threatened the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.
The shadow fleet is made up of tankers that use opaque ownership structures, flags of convenience, and irregular shipping practices to transport Russian oil despite Western sanctions.
Hundreds of ships, often aging, were essential for Russia to continue exporting oil and financing the war.
