FRIENDLY FIRE? Ukrainian Drones Strike Oil Tankers in the Black Sea – Including One Chartered by US Oil Giant Chevron | The Gateway Pundit | by Paul Serran
Image of a Ukrainian drone attack to a tanker in the Black Sea from December 2025.
Dangerous sailing in the deadly black sea.
The attacks on civilian cargo ships continue unabated, as the prospect of a continuing Russia-Ukraine war seems ever more present.
Today was a turbulent day, but the fog of war is making the details fuzzy: depending on the source, two, three, or even four tankers were attacked by Ukrainian drones.
And also depending on the report, the tankers can be ‘Greek-operated’ or part of the Russian ‘shadow fleet’ – but a Reuters report shows that one of these ships was chartered by U.S. oil major Chevron.
This was confirmed by the companies involved.
The ships were reportedly sailing toward a terminal on the Russian coast.
Reuters reported:
“[The ships] were en route to the Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka terminal, a loading point for around 80% of Kazakh oil destined for international markets as well as some Russian crude, according to eight sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
‘All crew are safe, and the vessel remains stable. It is proceeding to a safe port, and we are coordinating with the ship operator and relevant authorities’, Chevron said of its chartered tanker.”
⚡ Drones hit four Greek oil tankers in the Black Sea
Four tankers owned by Greek companies were attacked by drones on January 13 in the Black Sea, near the terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, according to sources cited by Reuters and Bloomberg.
The vessels targeted… pic.twitter.com/ONPX1hxMlJ
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 13, 2026
4 Russian oil tankers have now been attacked by drones strikes today in the Black Sea.
Wow.
— WarMonitor (@WarMonitor3) January 13, 2026
“Ukraine’s government did not comment on the attacks. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which operates the terminal where the tankers were due to take on board cargoes, declined to comment.
War insurance costs for ships sailing to the Black Sea nearly doubled on Tuesday following the attacks, five industry sources said.”
Read more from December 2025: