Three tankers linked to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” were attacked by drones Thursday in the Black Sea near Turkey’s northern coast.
The incidents occurred near the Turkish district of Turkeli, prompting Ankara to dispatch coast guard vessels to the area. No casualties were reported among the crews.
According to shipping agency Tribeca, cited by Türkiye Today outlet, the Palau-flagged tanker James II was struck by a drone while sailing in ballast approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Turkeli and about 77 kilometers (48 miles) from the Bosphorus Strait.
The drone reportedly hit the vessel’s engine room. At the time of the attack, 20 crew members were aboard the tanker.
Two additional tankers – Altura and Velora, both sailing under the Sierra Leone flag – were also attacked in a nearby area while conducting a ship-to-ship cargo transfer operation at sea. Both vessels were likewise traveling without cargo.
Footage circulating online appeared to show one of the drones bearing a Cyrillic inscription resembling the word “police.”
Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) earlier said that all three vessels are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” – a network of aging tankers and opaque shipping operators Moscow uses to circumvent Western sanctions and continue exporting oil.
According to HUR, the shadow fleet accounts for up to 30% of Russia’s seaborne oil exports. Intelligence officials estimate that a single tanker shipment can carry oil worth up to $70 million.
All three ships had previously been sanctioned over their involvement in transporting Russian oil exports.
Altura and Velora had carried cargoes linked to Russian state oil giant Rosneft and were placed under EU sanctions on Oct. 24, 2025. The vessels were later sanctioned by the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada.
Since November 2025, both tankers have reportedly been operated by Turkish company Pergamon Denizcilik Isletmeleri.
The ships have also been linked to a network of companies associated with Hector Varela de Leon and Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader.
The James II tanker had been involved in exporting Russian oil and petroleum products from Russian ports since June 2024. The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on the vessel in May 2025.
The latest incident follows a similar Ukrainian operation on May 3, when Ukrainian forces struck two tankers belonging to Russia’s shadow oil fleet near the entrance to the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
Separately, at the end of 2025, four shadow fleet tankers were reportedly attacked within a single week.
On Dec. 2, Turkey’s Directorate of Maritime Affairs said the Midvolga 2 was struck about 80 miles (129 km) off the Turkish coast while sailing from Russia to Georgia with a cargo of sunflower oil.
On Nov. 27, four explosions rocked the tanker Mersin near Dakar, Senegal. Turkish maritime agency Deniz Haber reported that the 183-meter (600-foot), 50,000-ton vessel, owned by a Turkish shipping company, was hit by a Ukrainian drone.
The ship, sailing under a Panamanian flag, was reportedly carrying Russian oil – its last port of call was Russia’s Taman in August – and had been stationary off Africa’s west coast for some time.
On Nov. 28, two tankers under the Gambian flag – Kairos and Virat – were hit near the Bosphorus in the Black Sea.
The OpenSanctions database, which monitors individuals and organizations involved in sanctions evasion, also identified the vessels as part of a shadow fleet.
Ukrainian security sources later told Kyiv Post that the two tankers were struck by Sea Baby naval drones, which Kyiv has used to target Russia’s military and logistics at sea.