Ukraine's naval drones strike Russian tankers in Black Sea off Turkiye coast

Ukrainian security officials say Kyiv deployed its home-grown Sea Baby maritime drones to hit two Russian-operated oil tankers in the Black Sea, strikes that unfolded on Friday evening off Turkiye’s northern coastline, according to comments made by an SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) official to the Associated Press on Saturday.

The tankers — the Kairos and the Virat — are described by Western authorities as part of Russia’s illicit 'shadow fleet', vessels that help Moscow sidestep sanctions by masking ownership and operations. Both were reportedly struck within minutes of each other.

The attacks triggered a rapid response from the Turkish coast guard and maritime rescue teams, though all crew members aboard the two vessels were later confirmed unharmed.

Speaking anonymously owing to the classified nature of the mission, the SBU official shared video footage said to depict the moment the drones hit their targets, showing what he claimed was the destruction of both tankers at sea.

He added that the vessels were subject to Western sanctions and insisted that Ukrainian security agencies would “continue to take active steps to curtail Russia's financial capabilities to wage war against Ukraine”.

According to the official, the Sea Baby unmanned craft managed to take out ships capable of transporting nearly USD 70 million worth of oil, disrupting Moscow’s attempts to continue energy exports in defiance of international restrictions.

Turkiye, however, initially offered a more cautious assessment. Transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the tankers might have been damaged by “mines, missiles, a marine vessel, or a drone”, without confirming which. The incidents, he noted, occurred within Turkiye’s exclusive economic zone, and Ankara was coordinating with regional counterparts to reduce future risks and keep shipping lanes safe.

Uraloglu said the Gambian-flagged Kairos was burning on Saturday, with fires still smouldering in enclosed parts of the vessel, though all 25 crew were safely evacuated.

The Virat did not catch fire and did not request evacuation, though Turkish authorities initially reported flames in its engine room. The minister also confirmed that the Virat’s captain had sent out a distress alert over “a drone attack”.

The OpenSanctions database — which monitors networks involved in sanctions evasion — lists both tankers as components of the covert maritime fleet Russia relies on to move oil following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine has mounted a series of high-impact naval drone strikes during the conflict, heavily focused on Russia’s logistics in the northern Black Sea. The Kairos was hit roughly 28 nautical miles off the coast of Turkiye’s Kocaeli province while travelling empty between Egypt and Russia’s Novorossiysk port. Soon after, maritime authorities reported that the Virat had also been “struck” about 35 nautical miles from the Turkish shoreline.

Tracking data from VesselFinder showed the Virat anchored north of the Bosphorus on 4 November, while the Kairos was last detected south of the Dardanelles on 26 November.

The Virat was sanctioned by the United States in January, followed by the European Union, Switzerland, the UK and Canada, according to OpenSanctions. The Kairos was targeted by the EU in July, with Britain and Switzerland later adding their own restrictions.

OpenSanctions notes that “the shadow tanker fleet continues to provide multibillion-dollar revenues for the Kremlin bypassing sanctions, disguising its activities under the flags of third countries, using complex schemes to conceal owners and poses significant environmental threats”.

Built in 2018, the Virat has employed “irregular and high-risk shipping practices” and previously operated under the flags of Barbados, Comoros, Liberia and Panama. The Kairos, constructed in 2002, has in earlier years sailed under Panamanian, Greek and Liberian registration.

With AP/PTI inputs