Ukraine may be losing the war, bogged down by corruption scandals, and under pressure to give up territory and NATO ambitions – but they still pack a mean punch against civilian targets.
Yesterday (29), Ukrainian naval drones hit two sanctioned tankers in the Black Sea, inside the Turkish economic zone, leading its Foreign Ministry to condemn attacks.
The cargo ships are said to belong to the ‘Russian shadow fleet’, and were reportedly headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets.
Reports say the crew is Russian, but the ships are in fact Chinese civilian vessels flying the flag of Gambia.
The Kairos is owned by Alafia Trading Ltd from Shanghai, and the Virat by Glory Shipping HK LTD from Hong Kong.
Reuters reported:
“The two oil tankers, identified as the Kairos and Virat, were empty and sailing to Novorossiysk, a major Russian Black Sea oil terminal, the official at the Security Service of Ukraine told Reuters.
Naval drones could be seen speeding towards hulking tankers followed by powerful explosions that caused fires on the vessels, video footage shared by the official showed.”
“The 274-meter-long tanker Kairos suffered an explosion and caught fire on Friday while en route from Egypt to Russia, Turkey’s Transport Ministry said. The crew was evacuated by rescue boats while efforts to extinguish the fire continued, it said.
The Virat was reportedly struck some 35 nautical miles offshore, further east in the Black Sea, the ministry said. That ship was attacked again on Saturday by unmanned vessels, sustaining minor damage to its starboard side above the waterline, the ministry added. It said the vessel was in stable condition and the crew in good health.”
'TERROR CELL formed in center of Europe and whole WORLD knows' Russia’s FM Spox Zakharova on Ukraine’s latest terror attack on Novorossiysk Port x.com/RT_com/status/…
If the Russia-Ukraine war had already caused a major disruption in navigation in the dangerous Black Sea, now we’ve come to the point where ships can pretty much be attacked anywhere.
Yesterday (19), Ukraine executed a special op striking an Oman-flagged tanker on Friday, widening the Ukrainian operation from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, opening up a dark precedent.
The drone struck the empty Qendil oil tanker, a ‘shadow fleet’ vessel sanctioned by the UK and EU, off the coast of Libya.
The sabotage was carried out at a distance of more than two thousand kilometers from Ukraine. So who is launching drones over Europe? Hmm…
Daily News reported:
“The source claimed that the tanker, called the Qendil, had ‘sustained critical damage and cannot be used for its intended purpose’.
The explosive attack on the empty vessel was the first of its kind in the Mediterranean and a dramatic development in the near four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.”
Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of over 1,000 ships takes its oil around the world – and there’s no shortage of buyers.
“Speaking at an annual year-end press conference in Moscow, Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate.
‘Another of our tankers in the Mediterranean has been attacked’, the Russian president said. But he claimed it would not have the desired effect of disrupting supplies, adding ‘in the end, [it] will only create an additional threat. A response from our country will follow’.”
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