Ukrainian navy cripples Russian shadow fleet tanker with sea drone strike

Dramatic footage has captured the moment the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) blew up an oil tanker from Russia’s “shadow fleet” using naval drones in its latest attack on Moscow’s oil exports.

The Comoros-flagged Dashan was sailing through Ukraine’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea towards the Russian port city of Novorossiysk when it was attacked by agents from the SBU.

The ship had its automatic identification system switched off at the time of the strike, an SBU source said.

The strike on Wednesday is the third attack in two weeks on the Russian “shadow fleet” of unregulated ships, which allow Moscow to export oil around the world – a central component of their wartime economy.

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Footage of the blast shows an explosion at the rear of the ship, inflicting critical damage on the vessel, which is under EU and British sanctions.

The SBU source did not specify whether there were any casualties following the incident. Moscow has not commented.

“The SBU continues to take active measures to reduce petrodollar revenues to the Russian budget,” said the official. “Over the past two weeks, this is the third tanker of the shadow fleet put out of action that had helped the Kremlin circumvent international sanctions.”

Vladimir Putin threatened last week to cut Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea in response to attacks on Russian tankers.

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“The most radical solution is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, then piracy will be impossible in principle,” the Russian president said in televised remarks, vowing that Russia would intensify attacks on Ukrainian facilities and vessels.

The SBU estimates the Dashan to be worth around $30m (£22.4m). It can carry roughly $60m worth of oil goods on a single voyage.

Canada, Australia and Switzerland have also previously imposed sanctions on the vessel over its role in transporting Russian oil and operating with its identification systems turned off, the source said.

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Attacks on Russian oil facilities and transport methods now form a key part of Kyiv’s defence strategy as it looks to inflict economic damage. Ukrainian forces have targeted Russian oil refineries using long-range aerial drones to strike deep inside Russian territory.

Since 2024, there have been at least seven other attacks on tankers calling at Russian ports, including in the Mediterranean Sea.

Former SBU officer Ivan Stupak said the attacks are an attempt to “scare tanker owners away from entering the Black Sea ports of the Russian Federation and from loading Russian oil there”, a business he told The Kyiv Independent is “very lucrative” for the vessels.