Ukraine's naval drones strike Russian oil tankers in Black Sea off Turkish coast
Istanbul (AP): Ukraine used domestically produced Sea Baby naval drones to strike two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, an official from Ukraine's security services told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The two oil tankers, Kairos and Virat — said to be part of Russia's “shadow fleet” that evade sanctions — were struck in quick succession off Turkiye's Black Sea coast late Friday afternoon.
The strikes prompted rescue operations by the Turkish coast guard and other teams. Crew members on board both vessels were reported to be safe.
The SBU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operations, provided a video of the alleged attack, purporting to show the destruction of two tankers at sea.
The official said the two tankers were vessels that were sanctioned by the West, adding that Ukrainian intelligence continued "to take active steps to curtails Russia's financial capabilities to wage war against Ukraine.”
Sea Baby naval drones had disabled vessels capable of transporting oil worth almost USD 70 million, hindering Russia's efforts to circumvent international sanctions, the official said.
Earlier, Turkiye's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the tankers were possibly struck by mines, missiles, a marine vessel, or a drone.
The incidents took place within Turkiye's exclusive economic zone, he said, noting that Turkish authorities were in contact with their counterparts to prevent a recurrence and to ensure navigational safety. He did not provide further details.
Uraloglu said the Gambian-flagged Kairos had caught fire, which was continuing in the vessel's enclosed areas on Saturday. All 25 crews were safely evacuated.
The Virat, however, was not ablaze and no evacuation request was made, he added. Authorities had earlier reported a fire in the Virat's engine room.
He minister the captain of the Virat tanker had issued a distress call over “a drone attack.”
Ukraine has previously targeted Russian shipping
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The OpenSanctions database, which tracks people or organisations involved in sanctions evasion, describes the vessels as part of a shadow fleet of ships used to evade sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine has carried out successful naval strikes against Russian shipping during the war, particularly using explosives-packed marine drones. However, Ukrainian missions have largely been limited to the waters of the northern Black Sea.
Officials said the Gambian-flagged Kairos caught fire in the Black Sea approximately 28 nautical miles off the coast of Turkiye's Kocaeli province. It was sailing empty from Egypt toward Russia's Novorossiysk port.
Shortly after, the maritime authority reported that a second tanker, Virat, was “struck” while sailing in the Black Sea about 35 nautical miles off the Turkish coast.
Both tankers were under sanctions
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The VesselFinder website showed the Virat was anchored north of the Bosphorus, not far from its current position, on November 4. The Kairos' last position was on November 26 south of the Dardanelles Strait connecting the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara.
The United States sanctioned the Virat in January this year, followed by the European Union, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, according to the OpenSanctions website. Similarly, the EU sanctioned the Kairos in July this year, followed by the UK and Switzerland.
“The shadow tanker fleet continues to provide multibillion-dollar revenues for the Kremlin bypassing sanctions, disguising its activities under the flags of third countries, using complex schemes to conceal owners and poses significant environmental threats,” OpenSanctions says in its website entry on the Kairos.
The Virat, built in 2018, uses “irregular and high-risk shipping practices” and has previously sailed under the flags of Barbados, Comoros, Liberia and Panama, OpenSanctions says.
The Kairos, formerly flagged as Panamanian, Greek and Liberian, was built in 2002.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
