Ukraine has struck a Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker with drones in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, Kyiv revealed today.
The cargo ship was sailing in an undisclosed location around 1,243 miles from Ukraine’s borders when it was hit in a ‘new, unprecedented special operation’, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine said.
The attack on the empty vessel, called the Qendil, was the first of its kind in the Mediterranean.
Ukrainian news agency RBC-Ukraine published dramatic footage, purportedly showing the tanker being struck with explosives.
Estimated to include up to 1,000 ships, which frequently change their flags and whose ownership is unclear, Russia’s shadow fleet has enabled Moscow to keep exporting its crude oil for much-needed revenue despite curbs on exports.
Experts and several European leaders also believe some vessels have been used by Russia to conduct hybrid warfare across the continent.
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the cargo ship was empty at the time of the attack and there no environmental threat resulting from the operation.
It claimed that the tanker had ‘sustained critical damage and cannot be used for its intended purpose’.
The source however did not give further details of the attack, including how the SBU deployed a drone in the Mediterranean, from where it was launched, or which countries the drones could have flown over.
The source said the tanker was used to circumvent Western sanctions and fund Russia’s war chest, and claimed the attack was ‘an absolutely legitimate target’.
‘The enemy must understand that Ukraine will not stop and will strike them anywhere in the world, wherever they may be,’ the source added
Kyiv, which has been fending off Russia’s invasion for almost four years, has claimed similar hits on Russia-linked tankers off Turkey’s Black Sea coast, after two empty oil tankers were hit by explosions.
The SBU spy service confirmed the hit in a statement: ‘The SBU for the first time hit a tanker of the Russian “shadow fleet” in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea.’
‘As a result of multi-stage measures in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the SBU “Alpha” hit the tanker of the so-called “shadow fleet” of the Russian Federation “Qendil” with aerial drones,’ an SBU source said.
It comes after three Russian FSB border guards allegedly crossed the control line between Russian and Estonian territory on a breakwater in the Narva River, near the village of Vasknarva.
The soldiers, seen in grainy footage moving through mist, arrived on a security service hovercraft and proceeded on foot along the river barrier.
They then returned to their aircraft and crossed back to Russian territory.
Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro condemned the incident.
‘The illegal border crossing has been documented, and we have it on video from the surveillance camera that detected the crossing,’ he said.
‘There was no immediate security threat, but the [Estonian] police and border guards have significantly increased their presence and patrols.’
This is a breaking news story with more to come.
