Flames and thick smoke rise from an oil tanker after explosions hit two vessels from Russia’s “shadow fleet“ in the Black Sea, 28 November 2025. Photo: EPA / Turkish Directorate General for Maritime Affairs
Formal protests have been lodged by the foreign ministries of both Türkiye and Kazakhstan over a series of Ukrainian drone strikes on targets in the Black Sea earlier this week, including one on an oil pipeline terminal in the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk on Saturday.
Calling the strike on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s (CTC) Novorossiysk terminal “a third act of aggression against an exclusively civilian target, the functioning of which is guaranteed by the norms of international law,” Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry stressed the significant role played by the CTC in maintaining the stability of the global energy systems.
“We consider what happened to be an act detrimental to bilateral relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and we expect the Ukrainian side to take effective measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” the statement continued.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry described the Ukrainian strike on the Kairos and Virat oil tankers on Friday as having posed “serious risks to navigation, life, property, and environmental safety in the region,” noting that they took place within Ankara’s exclusive economic zone off Türkiye’s Black Sea coast.
“We are continuing our contacts with the relevant parties for the purpose of preventing the spread of the war across the Black Sea and its further escalation, as well as ensuring that our country’s economic interests and activities in the region are not adversely affected,” the ministry added.
On Friday, two empty oil tankers belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — vessels sailing under the flag of other countries that are being used to export Russian crude oil in defiance of Western sanctions — were struck by drones, causing huge fires on board both ships, and forcing their crews to be evacuated. On Saturday, the Security Service of Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In addition, an attack by Ukrainian naval drones on the CPC facility in the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk on Saturday forced the pipeline to shut down indefinitely to prevent leaks, the latest Ukrainian attack on Russia’s vital energy industry. A joint project managed by Russia, Kazakhstan, the United States and Europe, the CPC is used to deliver most of Kazakhstan’s oil exports to its foreign buyers.
