The explosions were initially said to be a result of ‘external causes’, but were later confirmed to be as a result of a strike by Ukrainian naval drones targeting Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’
Vladimir Putin has suffered an embarrassing set back in the Black Sea after “explosions and fires” broke out on two of his tankers.
While Turkish authorities simply explained the explosions as being caused by “external causes”, it was later confirmed that Ukrainian naval drones were behind the attack. The drones had been taked with dealing catastrophic blows to Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’.
The Turkish Director General of Maritime Affairs reported that one ship, the Kairos, was empty and on its way to the Russian port of Novorossiysk. Despite thick black smoke being seen billowing from the bow of the vessel as flames took hold, all 25 crew members were reported “safe and sound”.
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The dire broke out on the Kairos, which was flying a Gambian flag, at around 6pm, off the coast of Kefken in Turkey’s northern Kocaeli province. A second oil tanker, the Virat, “reported being hit approximately 35 nautical miles away,” the Directoriate General said, without specifying the nature of the impact.
“Rescue teams and a cargo vessel were sent to the scene. The 20 crew members are safe and sound and thick smoke was detected in the engine room,” it added. Footage verified by the BBC showed drones speeding through the waves into the Russian vessels before bursting into flames.
“An external cause means the vessel was hit by a mine, a rocket or a similar projectile, or by a drone, or by an unmanned underwater vehicle,” Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on NTV. The two tankers, both of which are Gambian-flagged, are currently under sanctions from the West for transporting oil from Russian ports despite an embargo enforced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The minister said 25 crew members from the Kairos were evacuated and rescue teams had also reached the VIrat. He added: “No pollution has been detected so far, but we are monitoring the fire’s progress.”
Numerous naval mines have been found and destroyed in the Black Sea since the start of Russia‘s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Mines were put in place by both Russia and Ukraine to protect the coastline, but have since drifted especially during storms.
As a result of the danger posed by the mines, NATO members TUrkey, Bulgaria and Romania, which all have coasts on the Black Sea, established a naval Mine Countermeasures Group in 2024.
