Moment Russian shadow fleet tanker is hit by deadly sea drones

Ukraine has attacked a tanker from Vladimir Putin's notorious shadow fleet evading sanctions.

Footage shows the detonation in the stern of the giant Dashan in the Black Sea.

The explosion on the 164,608-ton vessel came after attacks by Sea Baby marine drones, it is understood.

The extent of the damage is unclear but satellite data shows the 902ft-long tanker stopped moving.

Russian sources immediately sought to implicate Britain in the attack on a tanker which could carry £45million worth of oil.

War channel Rybar stated: 'There is one very characteristic detail - during the attack on the tanker, a British reconnaissance aircraft RC-135W was operating in the airspace over the western Black Sea.

'Immediately after the attack, the aircraft headed to the area where the tanker was located. It is now patrolling parallel to Sudak on the southern coast of Crimea.'

Russia claimed on Wednesday that this was the fourth strike on a Russian tanker in the past two weeks.

Ukraine had admitted to two prior to the Dashan, believed to be flagged in the Comoros Islands.

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Moment deadly sea drones destroy two tankers from Putin's shadow fleet in dramatic fireballs

The vessel had been sanctioned by the West for its use by Russia to evade oil sanctions.

Wednesday's attack was 'a joint operation of the 13th Main Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy', according to Ukrainian sources.

The vessel was bound for the Russian port of Novorossiysk without a transponder when it was hit.

It comes just weeks after two tankers from Russia's shadow fleet were blasted by Ukrainian sea drones and erupted into towering fireballs.

Extraordinary footage shows the unmanned craft - deployed by Ukraine's secret service - skimming across the Black Sea before slamming into the hulking vessels.

The impacts trigger huge explosions that send flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

A second strike targeted another Russian-operated tanker near the Bosphorus Strait, with onboard video showing the drone racing over the waves, closing in on its target and detonating against the ship's flank.

Sparks shoot into the air as the blast tears through the vessel, leaving a sheet of fire across the water and a trail of smoke stretching for miles.

According to officials in Kyiv, the coordinated attacks were carried out by Ukraine's SBU security service together with the navy, using their now-infamous 'Sea Baby' naval drones.

The two tankers, both under Western sanctions, were said to be ferrying Russian oil in an effort to dodge global restrictions.