Türkiye has summoned Ukraine’s ambassador and Russia’s chargé d’affaires following attacks on tankers in the Black Sea, state-run Anadolu Agency said on Dec. 4.
Ankara conveyed concerns to Ukraine’s Nariman Dzhelyal and Russia’s Alexey Ivanov, the report said. Diplomatic representatives were warned “not to turn the Black Sea into a conflict zone and not to draw Türkiye into it,” Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci told lawmakers on Dec. 4.
The incidents involved two empty tankers — the Virat and the Kairos — struck by Ukrainian naval drone attacks on Nov. 28. Both vessels, flying Gambian flags, were reportedly transporting Russian oil in violation of Western sanctions imposed after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. No casualties were reported.
The Kairos was hit around 15:00 GMT while heading for Novorossiysk, prompting the evacuation of its 25 crew members after a fire broke out roughly 100 kilometers east of the Bosphorus Strait. The Virat was struck later, about 400 kilometers further east, and experienced a second blast early on Nov. 29; its 20 crew members were unharmed.
Authorities also reported another Black Sea incident on Dec. 2. The Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said the MIDVOLGA-2 tanker, sailing from Russia to Georgia with sunflower oil, was attacked 80 nautical miles off the Turkish coast.
