It will be black in more ways than one. Do Greenies have anything to say?

Two Russian oil tankers, KAIRO and VIRAT, were reported to have caught fire last Friday in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey/Türkiye as a result of external strikes. Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that it was a special operation by the Security Service of Ukraine [which will have required Nato intelligence —Eds]

According to the above publication, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has described the latest attack on Russian vessels from the “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea as an alarming escalation to the situation. Moscow has used the fleet to circumvent Western restrictions on its energy sector imposed since the Special Military Operation in 2022.

After a Turkish government meeting, Erdoğan said that the war between Russia and Ukraine has reached a level that openly jeopardises shipping security in the Black Sea. “Attacks on merchant ships in our exclusive economic zone indicate an alarming escalation of the situation. We cannot in any way justify these attacks, which jeopardise the safety of shipping, human lives and the environment, especially in our exclusive zone.”