Turkey condemns Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil tankers off Black Sea coast

An oil tanker moored at the Sheskharis oil and petroleum complex on the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk (AP)

The Turkish government has condemned Ukrainian drone attacks on two Russian “shadow fleet” oil tankers in the Black Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said the attacks on the Kairos and Virat vessels happened inside Turkey’s exclusive economic zone and “posed serious risks to navigation, life, property and environmental safety in the region”.

In a social media post, he added that Turkey is holding talks with “the relevant parties” to prevent the spread of the war in Ukraine across the Black Sea and to protect Turkey’s economic interests.

Ukraine said it used naval drones to hit the tankers in quick succession off Turkey’s Black Sea coast late on Friday afternoon. Crew members on both vessels were reported to be safe.

The OpenSanctions database, which tracks people or organisations involved in sanctions evasion, describes the vessels as part of a fleet of ships used to evade sanctions imposed on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has carried out successful naval strikes against Russian shipping previously, particularly using explosives-packed marine drones. Those missions had largely been limited to the waters of the northern Black Sea.