Ukrainian Navy Strikes Sanctioned Tanker Off Russia’s Black Sea Coast
As Ukraine continues its drone campaign against Russia’s oil production, transportation, and export infrastructure, its much rarer strikes on Russia’s shadow fleet tankers have already tripled Black Sea war-risk insurance premiums late last year. The fleet, comprising more than 1,000 tankers, operates with flags of convenience, opaque ownership, and frequent AIS shutdowns.
The strike unfolded when a Ukrainian Navy unit hit the MARQUISE with two unmanned kamikaze surface vessels on the morning of 29 April, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The 184-meter tanker, flying a Cameroonian flag and carrying no cargo, was drifting roughly 210 km southeast of Tuapse with no AIS signal, and was likely awaiting an at-sea loading from another vessel.
“The strikes were made on the stern, in the area of the propeller-rudder group and the engine compartment,” the General Staff said. The MARQUISE has a cargo capacity of more than 37,000 tons. Ukrainian forces are still assessing the extent of the damage.
Sanctioned Tanker with a History of Violations
The MARQUISE is sanctioned by Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Canada, according to the General Staff. Russia has used the tanker for illegal petroleum product transport. According to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, HUR, the 20-year-old vessel has been moving sanctioned Russian crude and refined fuels in violation of the G7 price cap, which took effect at the end of 2023.
The vessel routinely disables its AIS signal in the Kerch Strait area and in ports of occupied Crimea. Per the same registry, the MARQUISE called at two occupied Crimean terminals — Komysh-Burun and Feodosia — across May and June 2025. HUR also records an August 2024 voyage in which the MARQUISE shipped over 30,000 tonnes of Russian fuel cargo out of Tuapse to Türkiye on charter to Turkish refiner Tupras.
Ukraine’s Expanding “Kinetic Sanctions” Against Russia’s Shadow Fleet
Ukraine has steadily expanded what officials call “kinetic sanctions” — physical strikes on Russia’s shadow fleet that go where Western sanctions cannot. In late November 2025, Ukrainian Security Service naval drones struck the sanctioned tankers Kairos and Virat near the Bosphorus Strait. In December, Sea Baby drones hit the Dashan tanker near Novorossiysk, while the SBU’s Alpha unit reached the QENDIL tanker more than 2,000 km away in the Mediterranean Sea.
In December 2025, Ukraine imposed sanctions on 656 Russian shadow fleet vessels in a single decree.
Original Article: Sea drones hit Russian shadow fleet tanker as it waited for an at-sea oil rendezvous off Russia’s Black Sea coast — Euromaidan Press