Ukrainian drones have struck a Russian shadow fleet tanker in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, reports say. An official from Ukraine's SBU security service told Reuters on Friday (December 19) that the drones hit the Qendil in waters more than 1,243 miles from Ukraine.

The news agency said the official confirmed the strikes caused critical damage. The vessel was empty at the time of the attack, it reports. Footage posted on social media shows an explosion and huge fireball on the deck of the ship. The Express has not been able to independently verify the footage.

The video was posted by a number of accounts on social media, including Special Kherson Cat, which regularly posts about the Russia-Ukraine war.

It said Ukraine's elite Alpha unit targeted the tanker as it sailed through international waters.

The X-user added: "This effectively removes another asset from Russia’s shadow logistics network, which has been used to bypass sanctions and sustain the war effort.

"At the time of the strike, the Russian vessel was not carrying any cargo and was fully empty. As a result, the operation posed no threat to the environmental safety of the region, avoiding any risk of pollution or ecological damage.

"And Russia’s fleet is no longer beyond reach even in the waters of the Mediterranean."

Reports of the attack come after Ukrainian naval drones struck two tankers in the Black Sea on November 28. A third vessel was struck on December 2 as it headed toward the Turkish port of Sinop.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the earlier attacks as a threat to "navigational safety, life and the environment, especially in our own exclusive zone".

Russia's shadow fleet is a covert network of vessels used by the Russians to get around sanctions aimed at the country's oil exports.