Two Russian shadow-fleet tankers placed under international sanctions were damaged by suspected Ukrainian naval drone attacks in the Black Sea on Friday, triggering large-scale rescue and firefighting operations led by Turkish authorities.
Ukraine’s Security Service said it carried out the strikes with the Ukrainian Navy, deploying Sea Baby uncrewed surface vessels.
The 274-m tanker Kairos, sailing from Egypt toward Novorossiysk, was the first ship affected. An explosion ignited a fire about 28 nautical miles off the Turkish coast, prompting immediate evacuation. Turkey’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure confirmed that 25 crew were transferred to safety by the General Directorate of Coastal Safety. The tug KURTARMA-12 and the emergency response vessel NENE HATUN fought the blaze overnight, extinguishing flames on the open deck while cooling operations continued inside the vessel.
A second tanker, the Virat, was struck roughly 35 nautical miles offshore later the same day. Smoke filled the engine room, but all 20 personnel remained unharmed as Turkish teams and a nearby commercial ship supported the response.
The situation intensified on Saturday when uncrewed vessels hit the Virat again, causing minor starboard-side damage above the waterline. The ministry said the tanker stayed stable and the crew’s condition was good.
Both vessels belong to Russia’s shadow fleet carrying Russian oil in violation of international restrictions. The Kairos is sanctioned by the UK and EU, while the Virat is targeted by the U.S. and EU. Ukrainian officials told Reuters that the drones disabled the ships as they moved toward a Russian port to load oil for export, saying video evidence showed severe structural impact.
Attention again turned to the opaque network of tankers operating outside regulatory controls. Analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann of Windward AI noted that the Kairos had recently been removed from the Gambian ship registry due to fraudulent certification, leaving the tanker flagless, without valid insurance or class status.
The attacks signal a shift in Ukraine’s campaign against Russian energy infrastructure. After months of long-range strikes on refinery sites, Ukrainian forces are now intensifying the use of naval drones in the Black Sea, a tool that has already pushed back Russian warships.
In a separate incident, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium suspended operations on Saturday after a mooring system at Russia’s Black Sea terminal was damaged in what was reported as a Ukrainian naval drone strike. The line, which moves more than 1% of global oil supply and exports crude from Kazakhstan via Russia, was halted as Kazakhstan criticized the attack.
Turkish environmental teams and divers remain ready for further assessment while firefighting and inspection efforts continue. Ship movements through the Bosphorus Strait were not disrupted.
