Ukrainian military struck two ships of the Russian shadow fleet in the port of Novorossiysk.
This was reported by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Zelensky, these tankers were transporting Russian oil.
Also under attack by drones at night was the port of Primorsk in the Leningrad region. After the strike, a fire broke out there. This is the largest Russian oil loading port on the Baltic Sea and one of the largest oil terminals in the Russian Federation.
What is known about the Russian shadow fleet?
In early December 2022, the G7 members, as well as Australia and the EU, imposed price caps on Russian oil, setting a maximum price of $60 per barrel. In January 2026, the European Union reported a reduction in the price of Russian oil to $44.1 per barrel from February 1, 2026.
To circumvent oil sanctions, Russia has begun to form a shadow fleet. This is a fleet of old tankers that turn off their beacons so that they cannot be seen by surveillance systems. They are operated mostly by the Russian state company “Suchkomflot”. With its help, the Russian Federation transports an estimated 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, which brings large profits to the Kremlin.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.