Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed Russia is deploying its covert shadow fleet of tankers to launch and control drones targeting cities across Europe — a move that would represent a dramatic escalation in hybrid maritime warfare.
In an address yesterday, Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence indicates that Russia’s network of ageing, opaque oil tankers — which already skirt Western sanctions — are now being used not only to ferry fossil fuels, but to act as drone-launch platforms above European waters.
“This is further evidence that the Baltic Sea and other seas should be closed to Russian tankers, at least for the shadow fleet,” he said. “This is especially important — sanctions must hit Russia’s energy trade and the entire infrastructure of the Russian tanker fleet painfully,” he added, calling for a hardline response from Europe’s capitals and naval enforcers alike.
Zelensky’s remarks come against a backdrop of increasing drone incursions into NATO airspace, with unidentified drones observed over Poland, Romania, Denmark and the Baltic region. The allegations suggest Russia may be fusing its maritime shadow operations with aerial warfare — turning tankers into floating drone bases.
Russian-linked ships have also been accused of damaging subsea infrastructure across the Baltic over the past couple years.
