“In the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey, a drone attacked the Palau-flagged Elbus oil tanker, which media reports say is part of Russia’s “shadow fleet.” The ship was damaged, but the crew was not injured; it is being towed to the port of Inebolu for inspection”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The incident occurred 30 miles (about 48 km) off the coast of Kastamonu province in Turkey. As a result of the attack, the upper part of the tanker was damaged. After receiving a distress signal, a coast guard team was sent to the ship. According to preliminary data, the crew members were not injured.
The tanker is being towed to the port of Inebolu for a technical inspection, after which the extent of the damage will be determined, writes the newspaper, which is quoted by the TV channel “Nastojachesche Vremya”.
According to the MarineTraffic service, the vessel is indeed heading towards the port of Inebolu. On October 22, the tanker left Singapore. According to VesselFinder, built in 2005, Elbus five hours ago was moving at a speed of 0.5 knots (on average, tankers move at a speed of 10-20 knots).
The Telegram channel “Operative ZSU” claims that the Elbus was on its way to Novorossiysk to receive cargo and is part of the Russian “shadow fleet” created to circumvent Western sanctions. Several Russian pro-war Telegram channels also write about this, blaming Ukraine for the attack.
Russia, Turkey and Ukraine have not yet officially commented on the attack on the Elbus tanker in the Black Sea.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) previously claimed responsibility for attacks on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in 2025, without specifying the list of vessels attacked.
On November 28, naval drones hit the tankers KAIROS and VIRAT off the coast of Turkey. On December 2, the Turkish Ministry of Transport announced an attack on another Russian Midvolga 2 tanker in the Black Sea. On December 10, according to Ukrainian media, naval drones hit the Dashan tanker in the Black Sea. On December 19, drones attacked the tanker of the Russian “shadow fleet” QENDIL in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
As The Atlantic claimed, the US gave Ukraine tacit permission to strike the Russian “shadow fleet” carrying oil. According to the American magazine, the administration of Donald Trump not only did not prevent such attacks, but also in some cases provided the necessary intelligence, considering such strikes as an effective lever of pressure on the Kremlin.