Ukrainian forces have struck a Kremlin-friendly oil tanker loaded with drones stationed in the Mediterranean sea.
The Russian ‘shadow fleet’ vessel was last recorded sailing off the coast of Crete parallel with Libya.
Qendil, which flies the flag of Oman, is thought to be one of several ships exporting Russian oil via third countries.
It comes as Kyiv has increasingly directed its attention at vessels further afield which it believes are helping to fund Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces have claimed three attacks on drone ships in the Black Sea and have also struck Russian oil rigs and refineries in a bid to severe key infrastructure.
Regarding the latest attack, Putin said that Russia was ‘certainly’ going to respond.
He insisted the vessel was in the Mediterranean for ‘utilitarian purposes’, and that the strike was not going to disrupt oil supplies but ‘create additional threats’.
The Russian dictator had condemned previous strikes on his ships as ‘piracy’.
Kyiv’s latest strike is significant not just for its distance but is use of long-range missiles.
British maritime risk -management group Vanguard said the development ‘reflects a stark expansion of Ukraine’s use of uncrewed aerial systems against maritime assets associated with Russia’s sanctioned oil export network’.
It comes as US envoy Steve Witkoff prepares to meet representatives of Ukraine, Germany, France and the UK in Miami today.
He was also due to meet with a Russian delegation alongside Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to continue efforts to reach an agreement to end the war.
During his end-of-year press conference, Putin heaped praise on Trump’s peace talks, saying the US president was conducting negotiations with ‘absolute sincerity’.
He insisted: ‘The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kyiv regime, and, in this case, first and foremost, their European sponsors.
‘We are ready for both negotiations and a peaceful resolution to the conflict.’
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