This is the astonishing moment two tankers from Russia‘s ‘shadow fleet’ were blasted by Ukrainian sea drones and erupted into towering fireballs.
Extraordinary footage shows the unmanned craft – deployed by Ukraine’s secret service – skimming across the Black Sea before slamming into the hulking vessels.
The impacts trigger huge explosions that send flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
A second strike targeted another Russian-operated tanker near the Bosphorus Strait, with onboard video showing the drone racing over the waves, closing in on its target and detonating against the ship’s flank.
Sparks shoot into the air as the blast tears through the vessel, leaving a sheet of fire across the water and a trail of smoke stretching for miles.
According to officials in Kyiv, the coordinated attacks were carried out by Ukraine’s SBU security service together with the navy, using their now-infamous ‘Sea Baby’ naval drones.
The two tankers, both under Western sanctions, were said to be ferrying Russian oil in an effort to dodge global restrictions.
‘Video shows that after being hit, both tankers sustained critical damage and were effectively taken out of service. This will deal a significant blow to Russian oil transportation,’ the official said in a written statement.
Turkey’s Directorate General of Maritime Affairs confirmed that the Gambian-flagged tanker Kairos caught fire around 28 miles off the coast of Kocaeli, blaming an ‘external impact’ but offering no further details.
This is the astonishing moment two tankers from Russia ‘s ‘shadow fleet’ were smashed by Ukrainian sea drones and erupted into towering fireballs
Extraordinary footage shows the unmanned craft – deployed by Ukraine’s secret service – racing across the Black Sea before slamming into the hulking vessels
The impact triggers huge explosions that send flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky
The ship was sailing empty toward Russia’s Novorossiysk port at the time.
Within an hour, a second vessel – the Virat – issued a distress call after it, too, was struck in the Black Sea roughly 35 nautical miles from Turkey’s shoreline. Emergency crews were sent to help.
All 25 crew members on the Kairos were rescued, though the blaze continued to rage, according to Kocaeli’s governor Ilhami Aktas.
He described the inferno as ‘large’ and said the cause remained unclear. All 20 crew aboard the Virat were also reported safe, despite heavy smoke filling the engine room.
Authorities stressed they could not yet confirm whether the tankers had been hit by drones or mines.
Both sides in the war have littered the Black Sea with naval mines since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Local outlets reported Mayday calls from both tankers, while Turkey later shared footage of dark smoke rising over the sea where the Kairos burned.
A second strike targeted another Russian-operated tanker near the Bosphorus Strait, with shocking onboard video capturing the drone skimming over the waves, closing in on its target and detonating against the ship’s flank
Sparks scatter into the air as the blast tears through the vessel, leaving a sheet of fire across the water and a trail of smoke stretching for miles
According to officials in Kyiv , the coordinated attacks were carried out by Ukraine’s SBU security service together with the navy, using their now-infamous ‘Sea Baby’ naval drones
Tracking data shows the Virat was anchored north of the Bosphorus earlier this month, while the Kairos was last recorded near the Dardanelles in late November.
Both ships have been slapped with US, EU, UK, Swiss and Canadian sanctions for helping move Russia’s oil through opaque networks of ownership and flag-hopping practices designed to skirt international scrutiny.
The ‘shadow fleet’ remains a crucial lifeline for the Kremlin, according to OpenSanctions, which says vessels like the Kairos and Virat frequently disable their identification systems, change flags and operate under risky conditions that also pose major environmental dangers.
Ukraine’s military intelligence service, the GUR, says both tankers routinely call at Russian ports and have a track record of hiding their movements.
The Virat, built in 2018, uses irregular and high-risk shipping practices and has previously sailed under the flags of Barbados, Comoros, Liberia and Panama, OpenSanctions says.
The Kairos, formerly flagged as Panamanian, Greek and Liberian, was built in 2002.
Ukraine’s military intelligence service, the GUR, says on its website that both ships visit Russian ports and have a history of shutting off their automatic identification systems, which transmit a ship’s position.
The two tankers, both under Western sanctions, were said to be ferrying Russian oil in an effort to dodge global restrictions
‘Video shows that after being hit, both tankers sustained critical damage and were effectively taken out of service. This will deal a significant blow to Russian oil transportation,’ the official said in a written statement
Turkey’s Directorate General of Maritime Affairs confirmed that the Gambian-flagged tanker Kairos caught fire around 28 miles off the coast of Kocaeli, blaming an ‘external impact’ but offering no further details
Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil refineries for months, using long-range aerial drones to strike far behind the front lines of Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The strikes on the tankers mark a different kind of escalation.
Ukraine has repeatedly called on the West to take real action against Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’, which Kyiv says is helping Moscow export large quantities of oil and fund its war in Ukraine despite Western sanctions.
The fleet of hundreds of often ageing, unregulated vessels came to prominence after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, bypassing Western sanctions aimed at reducing Russia’s oil revenue.
Separately, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles more than 1% of global oil, said on Saturday it halted operations after a mooring at Russia’s Black Sea terminal was significantly damaged by a Ukrainian naval drone attack.
CPC exports mainly from Kazakhstan via Russia and the Black Sea terminal. Kazakhstan called the attack unacceptable.
Naval drones are uncrewed speed boats packed with explosives that sail towards their targets before detonating.
They played a prominent role in Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Black Sea, helping to push back Russia’s large fleet of warships.
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.
The Virat was hit again on Saturday morning by unmanned vessels, sustaining minor damage to its starboard side above the waterline, the Turkish ministry also said, adding that the vessel was in a stable condition and the crew in good health.
Both the Kairos and Virat are on a list of ships subject to sanctions imposed against Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to LSEG data.
The Ukrainian official did not say when the Ukrainian strikes took place.
