Kyiv’s sea-drone offensive cripples Kremlin’s covert oil network, exposing Russia’s illegal maritime operations.
A dramatic escalation in the Black Sea unfolded early Saturday when an unmanned Ukrainian naval drone slammed into the Russian shadow-fleet oil tanker “Virat” off Turkey’s northern coast. Kyiv swiftly claimed responsibility, confirming to Bloomberg that its “Sea Baby” maritime drones carried out the precision strike as part of its campaign to dismantle Moscow’s sanctions-evading oil logistics.
The first alert emerged through a panicked open-frequency distress call intercepted by monitoring stations. In the recording, members of the Russian-linked crew shouted:
“This is VIRAT. Help needed! Drone attack! Mayday!”
The tanker, notorious for assisting Moscow’s covert oil operations in violation of global sanctions, was struck twice within hours, according to the Turkish transport ministry.
In an official statement posted on X, Turkey confirmed:
“The Virat… was attacked again by unmanned maritime vehicles early this morning.”
Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu elaborated to Turkish media that the impact was clearly external:
“This suggests a mine, a rocket, a drone, or an unmanned underwater vehicle.”
Despite sustaining structural damage, Turkish authorities reported that the Virat remains afloat, stable, and its crew unharmed — though Russian maritime logistics have been thrown into chaos.
The strike represents another surgical blow in Ukraine’s expanding strategy of targeting the Kremlin’s illegal shadow-fleet infrastructure — a network that finances Russia’s ongoing war effort while circumventing Western sanctions.
