Two sanctioned oil tankers, known as the notorious 'shadow fleet,' have caught fire in the Black Sea, according to Turkish authorities. The CBC’s Briar Stewart shares more.

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Ukrainian officials have claimed responsibility for striking two Russian oil tankers, the Kairos and the Virat, in the Black Sea near Turkey using sea drones. Both vessels, part of Russia's Western-sanctioned Shadow Fleet and flagged to Gambia, were targeted in separate incidents, resulting in fires but no reported casualties.

Turkish rescue crews responded to the incidents, ensuring the safety of all crew members. The attacks occurred close to the Turkish coast, highlighting ongoing tensions in the Black Sea region, where concerns about drones and underwater mines persist among neighboring countries.

Ukraine strikes two Russian tankers with drones

Good morning. It's Saturday, November 29th. This is CBC News Network. I'm Arianne Demaine. Ukrainian officials have claimed responsibility for striking two oil tankers that caught fire in the Black Sea last night, just off the coast of Turkey. Both tankers are part of Russia's Western-sanctioned but secretive Shadow Fleet. An official from Ukraine's State Security Service says they worked with the Ukrainian Navy to hit the two ships with sea drones. The CBC's Briar Stewart has the latest from Istanbul. In terms of the sea drones, I mean, these are basically underwater drones that Ukraine has been using to target Russian ships, military ships, oil installations. But in terms of this incident, I think what really sticks out is just how close these ships were to the Turkish coast. And again, to kind of recap what happened, last night there were two separate incidents on ships. The first ship was the Kairos. It's about 50 kilometres north of the Turkish coastline. It's an oil tanker. It wasn't carrying crude at the time. It was actually destined for a Russian port. And what the crew members on board had reported is that the ship suffered some kind of external impact. There was a large explosion, a very, very big fire, obviously a lot of smoke. Turkish rescue crews responded and all 25 crew members on board were fine. They were rescued and they're now in Turkey. The other ship, it was a little bit further to the east. It was called the Virat. Like the other ship, it's been sanctioned by Western authorities, including Canada. It, too, is a Russian crude tanker, or rather a tanker that does carry Russian oil. Both of these ships were actually flagged to Gambia. And in terms of that ship, what crew members reported was that it was hit twice, two separate incidents. And Turkish officials had said that they were looking into the possibility that it was a drone attack, an underwater drone attack. And now we have reports about Ukraine claiming responsibility for that. And that is kind of frequently how these things play out. Often we do hear from Ukrainian security officials who confirm that they've targeted something. Very often there's video that's also released online kind of from the drones itself, where they can see with the camera. I think I have seen some of that video out there already. We haven't been able to confirm it yet ourselves. But again, I think what really sticks out about this is just that these ships were very close to Turkey. And obviously, the Black Sea is an area where there is a lot of tension, not only with drones, but also mines. And Turkey and Romania had been very concerned about underwater mines drifting. But in this case, what appears to have happened was the targeting of these ships, because they are ships that are sanctioned and are being used to carry Russian oil.

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Ukraine strikes two Russian tankers with drones

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