Cargo ship, generic image. Photo: shutterstock.com
A Russian cargo ship was attacked in the Black Sea near the Turkish coast, Turkey's General Directorate of Maritime Affairs announced on the official X account.
“The tanker MIDVOLGA-2 reported that it was attacked 80 miles off our coast while sailing from Russia to Georgia with a cargo of sunflower oil,” he said.
According to the specialized website Marine Traffic, the Midvolga 2 is a 140-meter-wide tanker, built in 2014, sailing under the Russian flag
The Turkish naval authority said on Tuesday morning that, “currently, there are no adverse conditions for the 13 crew members and the vessel has not requested assistance. The vessel is sailing towards Sinop under its own means.”
🚨MIDVOLGA-2 tankers, Rusya'dan Gürcistan'a ayçiçek yağı ılıku olarak seyrederken kılılarımızdan 80 mil açkta aşkliya ışfağındını bildırmistir. There are currently 13 personnel with negative durum olmanyan geminin beylik taligi yoktur. Sigh, Sinop's machines are moving pic.twitter.com/Ov9tEeswEk
— DENİZCİLİK GENERAL MÜDÜRLÜĞÜ (@denizcilikgm) December 2, 2025
The new information comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Monday of a “worrying escalation” following drone attacks claimed by Ukraine that hit two oil tankers in the Black Sea on Friday and Saturday off the coast of Turkey.
“We cannot accept these attacks under any circumstances, as they threaten the safety of navigation, the environment and life in our exclusive economic zone,” the Turkish president emphasized.
Erdogan said that currently “the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has clearly reached a level that threatens the safety of navigation in the Black Sea”. Therefore, “we are issuing the necessary warnings to all parties involved.”
Two oil tankers, Kairos and Virat, which were sailing under the flag of the Gambian state, but are part of the “shadow fleet” with the help of which Russia circumvents the sanctions imposed on it by Western countries, were hit by Ukrainian naval drones on Friday evening in the Black Sea near the coast of Turkey, outside its territorial waters. The Virat ship was hit again on Saturday morning.
Both tankers were moving without cargo to the Russian port of Novorossiisk, where another Ukrainian drone attack knocked out an oil terminal where Kazakh oil is also exported.
Ukraine says it has successfully hit two Russian “ghost fleet” oil tankers with Sea Baby drones in the Black Sea.
A third oil tanker, the Mersin, under the Panamanian flag but operated by a Turkish company and also used to export Russian oil, was damaged on Thursday in the Atlantic near the African state of Senegal, following four external explosions whose cause is still unclear.
