The attack, which took place yesterday near the coast of Libya, allegedly caused critical damage to the vessel, writes The Guardian.
The attack came on the day of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference, where he said Russia would respond to recent Ukrainian attacks on tankers.
Russian tankers are not safe anywhere now.
Ukraine has hit a tanker of the Russian “shadow fleet” in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Operation was carried out at a distance of more than 2000 km from Ukraine. The sanctioned tanker QENDIL was hit by aerial drones. pic.twitter.com/q7yqgqm0vr
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) December 19, 2025
“We will definitely respond,” Putin said yesterday, adding: “In the end, it will not lead to the expected result. It will not disrupt any deliveries, but will only create additional threats.”
The Russian leader has previously threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea in response to attacks on tankers, which he called piracy. During the hours-long address to the nation, Putin also reiterated his hard-line stance on the war in Ukraine, insisting that Moscow has no plans to invade Europe and calling the use of frozen Russian funds to rebuild Ukraine “robbing.”
A source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) described yesterday’s attack as a “new, unprecedented special operation”. No details have been revealed about how the SBU delivered the drones to the Mediterranean, where they were launched from, or over which countries they flew.
It has been confirmed that the targeted tanker Qendil has suffered “critical damage and is unusable”. According to the allegations, the tanker was used to circumvent Western sanctions and finance the Russian war budget, making it an “absolutely legitimate target”.
The source added that the cargo ship was empty at the time of the attack and that the operation did not cause an environmental threat. “The enemy must understand that Ukraine will not stop and will attack them anywhere in the world, wherever they are,” said a source from the SBU.
The attack in the Mediterranean Sea is happening in the middle of the escalation of the maritime conflict over the so-called “shadow fleets”, a term used for vessels used by Russia, Iran and Venezuela to circumvent international sanctions.
This fleet is estimated to consist of more than 1,000 ships that frequently change flags and whose ownership is unclear. That fleet allowed Moscow to continue exporting crude oil despite the restrictions. Kiev has previously targeted Russian tankers in the Black Sea to cut off an important source of revenue to finance the invasion.
European countries have also stepped up efforts against “shadow fleet” tankers operating in their waters, due to growing safety and environmental concerns posed by aging vessels. British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the development “reflects a strong expansion of Ukraine’s use of unmanned systems against maritime assets linked to Russia’s sanctioned oil export network”.
(Vijesti.ba)
