The Arctic Metagaz was part of a Russian shadow fleet used to circumvent sanctions imposed on the country's oil and gas after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It was struck in a suspected drone attack close to Maltese waters earlier this month, causing a huge hole.
The United States is a reliable ally. We believe that to be the case, we see that every day. But we also know the world is changing, and we've got to step up and Europe's got to step up. President Trump—he may have his own style—he's not the first US president to say that. The thing we've really got to understand about this new world is that hard and soft power have to go together.
Ukraine says it has attacked a Russian shadow fleet tanker with aerial drones 1,250 miles (2,000km) from its borders, in the first such strike in the Mediterranean Sea since Moscow's full-scale invasion nearly four years ago. Friday's strike off the coast of Libya, which reportedly caused critical damage, took place on the day of Vladimir Putin's annual end of year press conference in which he said Russia would respond to recent Ukrainian attacks on shadow fleet tankers.
The reported attack on the Midvolga-2 comes days after Ukraine hit two other Russian-flagged ships in the Black Sea. A Russian-flagged tanker in the Black Sea has reported being attacked off the Turkish coast, the third such vessel to have been targeted within a week. The Turkish Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said on Tuesday that the Midvolga-2 had reported coming under attack about 130km (80 miles) from land. list of 4 itemsend of list The tanker was reportedly carrying sunflower oil to Georgia.
A Russian oil tanker was hit again in the Back Sea on Tuesday which is the fourth incident in a week as Ukrainian forces are stepping up their attack on Vladimir Putin's shadow fleet. The Turkish directorate of maritime affairs said the tanker, Midvolga 2 was hit 80 miles of their coastline by a Ukrainian drone as it sailed from Georgia carrying a cargo of sunflower oil. The ship did not request any help and no injuries were reported among their thirteen crew members.
Estonia's Foreign Minister emphasized that the incident illustrates Russia's serious threat to NATO, not just through its actions in Ukraine but also against the alliance itself.
