Ukraine has struck a Russian "shadow fleet" oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, Ukrainian security officials said on Friday, marking a significant expansion of Kyiv's long-range operations.
An official from Ukraine's SBU security service said that aerial drones hit the tanker Qendil in waters more than 2,000 kilometres from Ukraine, causing critical damage. The vessel was empty at the time of the attack, the source said (via Reuters).
An unprecedented special operation
Ukrainian officials described the strike as an unprecedented special operation, saying the tanker was used by Russia to circumvent Western sanctions and generate revenue to fund the war.
The operation marks the first acknowledged Ukrainian strike against Russian-linked shipping in the Mediterranean, following earlier attacks in the Black Sea aimed at disrupting Moscow's oil exports. For more, be sure to check out the posts below.
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