Ukraine’s extraordinary attack against the waters of the Mediterranean Sea

Ukraine continues to damage Russia’s sources of income from oil, and this morning (Friday) carried out an extraordinary attack. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) attacked the Russian tanker QENDIL in the waters of the Mediterranean with an unmanned aerial vehicle.

This is the first time that Ukraine has attacked a Russian vessel in the Mediterranean – a distance of thousands of kilometers from the combat zone. The tanker is part of Russia’s “ghost fleet”, which it uses to export Russian oil in a way that helps finance the war in Ukraine and strengthen the Russian economy.

According to reports, the tanker was empty and there was no oil or chemical damage in the middle of the sea. In the photographs published early in the morning, the tanker was seen on fire, and in the documentation of the “first-person” attack, injuries are seen on the deck that cause the fire.

In recent times, Ukraine has escalated its attacks against Russia’s ghost fleet, with several attacks on tankers in the Black Sea. In attacks in the Black Sea, Ukraine used unmanned vessels, but in the Mediterranean it was required to use unmanned aircraft.

Last week, Ukraine carried out another unusual attack – and for the first time hit a Russian Navy submarine of the “Kilo” model in the port of Novorossiysk. The attack was unusual because for the first time underwater vessels (unmanned submarines) were used. Russia claimed that the submarine was not hit, but in the published documentation that tried to convey that “everything is as usual” the end of the submarine that was allegedly the target of the attack was hidden.

According to a report in the Reuters news agency, sarcastic messages appeared on the main screen in the hall where Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual press conference, under the title “Direct line with the public”. One of the messages read: “Not a direct line – but a circus.”

Another message reads: “Vladimir Vladimirovich, it’s already Friday, can we open the alcohol?”. In another message, while the president was answering questions about the economy, a message appeared asking “why the situation of citizens of Russia is worse than the citizens of Papua New Guinea.”

In another message, referring to Putin’s party, it was written: “When you look at life in the country, it is strange that it wins the elections! Maybe the elections are a fiction?”.