A Greek-operated oil tanker, the Skiros, was attacked in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia after it docked at a U.S.-linked oil transshipment terminal. According to Bloomberg, the attack occurred on August 16, shortly after the tanker had taken on cargo at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Novorossiysk, Russia.

The Skiros, a Suezmax-class vessel capable of carrying approximately one million barrels of oil, was reportedly transporting oil sourced from Russia at the time of the attack. The Athens-based management company of the tanker stated that there were no casualties or pollution incidents following the attack but declined to provide further comments.

A spokesperson for Ukraine's General Staff told Bloomberg that they had no data to comment on the matter. This incident is part of a series of attacks by Ukraine targeting CPC infrastructure and oil tankers operating near Novorossiysk over the past few months.

The CPC primarily transports crude oil from Kazakhstan through Russian territory to the Black Sea, with stakeholders including American oil companies such as Chevron and ExxonMobil. Previous attacks in the prior month disrupted the CPC's oil loading operations, forcing Kazakh producers to cut back on production.

According to the Financial Times, during a phone call on July 31, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to cease targeting vessels linked to the CPC. He warned that these attacks were harming U.S. commercial interests and destabilizing the oil market. Zelensky accepted these proposals and subsequently canceled attacks on vessels near the CPC terminal, provided those ships were not on Ukraine's sanctions list or carrying Russian goods.

The August 16 incident marks the first attack on a tanker docking at the CPC terminal after a nearly three-week lull. Russia has condemned previous attacks on oil tankers in the Black Sea, labeling them as “terrorist acts” against civilian maritime transport. Kazakhstan has also opposed attacks affecting CPC's export operations, describing them as an unacceptable threat to its economic interests and global energy supply.