From 6-8 January 2026, Ukraine reportedly struck a Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker off Turkiye while U.S. authorities advanced criminal proceedings against its crew detained in the Atlantic. These actions demonstrate increasing operational and regulatory risks for sanctions-evading oil transport.
Recent Ukrainian naval drone attacks against Russian shadow fleet tankers on route to Novorossiysk has caused severe delays for oil tankers traveling through the Turkish Straits; war risk insurance premiums have tripled - reaching between 0.5-7.75% of vessel value - with the International Maritime Organization strongly advocating mariner protection as military actions worsen commercial shipping disruptions.
Between December 15 and 17 the EU blacklisted additional operators and businesspeople of Rosneft and Lukoil linked to Russia’s ‘shadow tanker’ fleet, also plans to reinterpret maritime law to ease boarding suspect vessels, protecting subsea infrastructure while targeting these tankers.
From December 11-13, 2025, the United States ramped up its campaign against the global shadow fleet by seizing the tanker Skipper off Venezuela with commando raids, while Ukraine and the EU keep up the pressure against dark shipping associated with Russia. The assaults highlighted deteriorating legal, operational and market conditions for owners looking to protect vessels involved in shadowy oil trades.
In the past week, Ukraine has attacked several Russian-linked tankers with sea drones as Russian strikes hit a Turkish-flagged ship carrying sunflower oil. Incidents with vessels Dashan, Midvolga-2, VIVA and others have led Besiktas Shipping [to] suspend all Russia-bound voyages and push up insurance premiums with Ankara warning of further attacks to come.
Ukrainian naval drones targeted two sanctioned Russian tankers of the shadow fleet, MT Kairos and MT Virat, as Kyiv aggressively expanded its campaign against Russia's sanctions-evasion shipping network. The two vessels were attacked on November 28-29th 2025.
Two Gambian-flagged oil tankers, Kairos and Virat, were attacked by Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea between November 28 and 29, 2025. Both vessels, presenting as an EU and UK sanctioned shadow fleet for transporting Russian oil, were struck by naval drones in what can be described as the second round of attacks against Russian vessels in the Black Sea by Ukraine's SBU security service.