By Georgi Kantchev and James Marson
The sun was setting over the Black Sea on Friday as a naval drone sped toward an oil tanker headed for a Russian port. The Sea Baby drone, developed by Ukrainian security services, slammed into the vessel's hull moments later, triggering a fireball that lit up the pink-hued sky.
The grainy footage -- which Ukrainian intelligence says shows a strike on a Russia-linked oil tanker -- offers a glimpse into Kyiv's widening campaign against Russia's energy architecture. Ukraine is now targeting the Kremlin's shadow fleet, which relies on an opaque web of ships to skirt sanctions on its oil exports and reap funds for its war in Ukraine.
In recent days, Kyiv has acknowledged drone strikes on two sanctioned, Russia-linked oil tankers off the Turkish coast in the Black Sea. It is the first time this year that Ukraine has taken responsibility for such blasts, of which there have been around half a dozen others since January.
In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to expand strikes on Ukrainian ports and the vessels entering them.
"The most radical option is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, then piracy in general will be impossible," Putin said on Tuesday.
Kyiv last week also hit a major oil terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast that handles more than 1% of global oil shipments. The attacks augment Kyiv's monthslong campaign against Russia's oil refineries that is designed to drive up the cost to the Kremlin of its nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian offensive against the Moscow's shadow fleet comes during an intense period of shuttle diplomacy, with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow to negotiate a potential peace framework with Russia. Those talks come after Witkoff and Kushner met Ukrainian officials on Sunday together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
While the recent Ukrainian strikes are aimed at the very heart of the Russian economy -- its ability to export oil -- ultimate success for Kyiv remains uncertain. The strategy also comes with diplomatic risks, because the attacks widen the theater of conflict and encroach on marine territory and assets belonging to third countries.
"The war between Russia and Ukraine has clearly begun to threaten navigation safety in the Black Sea," said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo an on Monday. He issued a warning to "all relevant parties" without elaborating.
Russia's shadow fleet relies upon the fragmented patchwork of national ship registries to allow it to transport sanctioned crude via often-aging vessels that switch flags to evade international penalties for ferrying Russian oil.
The Kremlin didn't respond to a request for comment. Moscow has previously rejected characterizations that it uses a shadow fleet and has called Western sanctions illegitimate.
Moscow has proven resilient to assaults on its infrastructure and export network, and it has managed to restore damaged refineries and secure more vessels to maintain the flow of oil to international buyers.
Still, the Ukrainian attacks raise the stakes for Russia of moving its crude, as the raids increase insurance premiums for the ships and ultimately chip away at the revenues funding Putin's war.
Ukrainian attacks on refineries have already forced Russia to divert air defenses from the front and triggered domestic fuel shortages in several Russian regions, bringing the war's effects to the homes and workplaces of ordinary Russians.
"That is the best strategy Ukraine has; they can hit the economy to put pressure on Russia in the negotiations," said Adi Imsirovic, energy lecturer at the University of Oxford and former London-based global head at Russia's Gazprom Marketing & Trading.
Ukraine's navy and SBU security service used Sea Baby drones in Friday's attack on two tankers that have been sanctioned for carrying Russian oil, according to a Ukrainian official. The naval drones were developed by the SBU and carry explosive payloads.
The 900-foot Kairos and the 820-foot Virat tankers, which were on their way to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, came under assault by the drones along Turkey's Black Sea coast. Both tankers, which collectively have a capacity to transport oil worth up to $70 million according to the Ukrainian official, were empty of oil at the time.
They were sailing under the Gambian flag and belonged to Moscow's murky shipping network that is estimated to include several hundred vessels, many of which have patchy safety records. Kairos is under European Union and U.K. sanctions, while Virat has been blacklisted by the U.S. and the EU.
Blasts have taken place on at least six other Russia-linked vessels this year, with the incidents generally bearing the fingerprints of Ukrainian operations, according to security experts and maritime and open-source intelligence analysts. Kyiv didn't respond to a request for comment on the incidents. No fatalities have been reported from the explosions.
In a separate incident, an oil tanker suffered "four external explosions" off the coast of Senegal last week, according to Besiktas Shipping, the ship's Turkish managing company. The vessel, which hasn't been sanctioned, has visited several Russian ports this year.
This week, a Russian-flagged tanker carrying sunflower oil from Russia to Georgia was attacked in the Black Sea, Turkish authorities said, without attributing responsibility. The ship didn't request assistance and its 13 crew were unharmed. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Kyiv had no involvement in the incident.
Some of the explosions could also be due to collisions with drifting naval mines in the Black Sea or hits by other actors, experts say.
In one suspected attack in July, an explosion on the Eco Wizard tanker led to a leak of ammonia.
Following a June explosion on a tanker named Vilamoura, which was carrying a million barrels of crude oil, Ukraine's military intelligence reported on the incident on its website without commenting further.
Ukraine has developed a potent fleet of long-range naval and aerial drones capable of striking Russian warships, ports and infrastructure deep in the Black Sea, offsetting its lack of traditional fleet power.
Besides taking out some of the vessels, the Kyiv strikes increase the costs and logistical challenges for Russian oil exports. If shipping through the Black Sea -- a major exporting node for Russian crude -- becomes too risky, Moscow would have to divert more oil exports to the Baltic Sea, which would significantly increase the length and cost of its route to market.
"If Ukraine intensifies its attacks on shadow fleet tankers, it could choke off one of the most important shipping routes for Russian oil," said Janis Kluge, a Russia expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. "This could lead to a decrease in export volumes and have a significant impact on the Russian budget."
Although Moscow has sidestepped Western insurers with its shadow fleet, it still buys policies from Chinese or Russian domestic insurers -- and such attacks are making them costlier. It comes as Russian crude is trading at a deep discount to international grades due to U.S. sanctions, eroding the Kremlin's revenues.
Hours after the attacks on the Kairos and Virat tankers, Ukrainian long-range drones hit Novorossiysk itself, which is also home to a Russian Black Sea Fleet base. The Ukrainian official said Kyiv's forces had hit oil infrastructure as well as Russian air-defense systems in the area.
The attack damaged one of the moorings at a Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, whose shareholders include Russia and Kazakhstan as well as U.S. majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Brent crude prices rose around 1% on Monday following the attack, propelled by supply concerns over reduced export volumes.
Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said the attacks on the CPC, which the country uses to export its oil, harm bilateral relations and urged Kyiv to halt its campaign. Ukraine said its actions weren't directed against Kazakhstan and were aimed at repelling Russian aggression.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has also struck Russia's refinery infrastructure, hitting facilities in central Russia and on the Black Sea coast. As a result, Russia's crude processing has recently fallen to around 5 million barrels a day, compared with up to 5.5 million barrels a day typical for this time of the year, according to data provider Kpler.
Russia, for its part, has been hammering Ukraine's energy infrastructure in recent weeks as winter sets in, seeking to knock out power and heating, strain air defenses and sap civilian morale.
Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com and James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 02, 2025 23:00 ET (04:00 GMT)
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