A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service has provided footage of a drone attack on a Russian tanker allegedly belonging to the “shadow fleet” transporting Russian oil in defiance of sanctions. The attack, earlier on Wednesday in the Black Sea, was a joint operation between the SBU and the Ukrainian navy, and used “Sea Baby” drones, small unmanned boats which can be fitted with a kamikaze explosive load, said the source. The footage shows explosions on the tanker, named as the Dashan, which was flying under the flag of the Comoro Islands and was reportedly heading to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The Dashan has been put under British and European sanctions over suspicions it is part of the shadow fleet. There was no independent confirmation of the video’s authenticity, nor was information available about the fate of the ship after the attack, but it appears to fit a pattern of Kyiv attacking shadow fleet ships as part of a strategy to deny Russia revenues from oil. Late last month, two other suspected shadow fleet ships were hit by Ukrainian drones in the Black Sea.
