Ukrainian military may have hit two Russian tankers from Libya, a GRU general died on one of the ships

The French publication RFI on April 2, 2026, published an investigation that could significantly expand the understanding of where exactly the line of Ukrainian-Russian confrontation is today. According to sources cited by the editorial team, Libya allegedly agreed to host about 200 Ukrainian military personnel at three sites on its territory. In return, Kyiv is said to provide training in the field of drones, weapons, and investments in the oil sector.

The main intrigue of this story lies elsewhere.

If the material is to be believed, it was from Libyan territory that Ukrainian forces could have struck two Russian shadow fleet ships in the Mediterranean Sea. These are the tanker QENDIL and the gas carrier Arctic Metagaz. Moreover, the publication states that representatives of Russian intelligence and Kremlin-linked security structures were on board one of these ships, and among the dead could have been a high-ranking GRU officer, Andrey Averyanov.

For now, this is precisely the version of the investigation, not a definitively confirmed international picture of events. But even in this form, the material looks extremely sensitive because it touches not only on Russia’s war against Ukraine but also on the security of the entire Mediterranean, including the Israeli direction.

What the RFI investigation claims

Three sites, Ukrainian presence, and access to the sea

According to the published data, Ukrainian military personnel are allegedly stationed at three sites: at the Air Force Academy in Misrata, at a base in Zawiya about 50 kilometers north of Tripoli, and at the headquarters of the 111th Brigade of the Libyan Army.

One of these sites is reportedly used for launching aerial and maritime drones.

The investigation emphasizes that this might not be about temporary presence. According to sources, in October and November of last year, work was carried out on the provided territory to strengthen the site, equip runways, and install antennas. In other words, infrastructure was being created that allows for operations not in a one-time mode but over a longer distance.

It is separately noted that the basis for such presence was the official appeal of the Ukrainian military attaché in Algeria, General Andrey Bayuk, after which an agreement was signed in October to secure Ukrainian military presence in Libya.

Strikes on QENDIL and Arctic Metagaz

The most sensational claim concerns the strike on the tanker QENDIL, which, according to RFI, was carried out on December 19 of last year.

The publication writes that about ten high-ranking Russian intelligence officers, disguised as sailors, were on board. Similar suspicions were previously published in other investigations, which spoke of the presence on the ship of people associated with the Wagner PMC and the GRU.

According to the French publication, as a result of the strike on QENDIL, two people were killed, and seven more were injured. Among the dead, it is claimed, was Andrey Averyanov — one of the high-ranking officers of Russian military intelligence.

In addition, Ukraine, according to the investigation, may also be behind the strike on the Russian gas carrier Arctic Metagaz, which was transporting liquefied natural gas. The Russian side previously accused Ukraine of an attack using maritime drones.

This fragment makes the publication particularly resonant.

If the data is confirmed, it will become clear that Ukraine is capable of striking not only military targets in occupied territories or border areas but also Russia’s hidden maritime infrastructure far beyond the Black Sea.

Why this story is important for Israel

For the Israeli audience, this topic does not seem external and distant. The Mediterranean Sea for Israel is not just geography, but a space directly connected with security, logistics, energy, and military balance in the region.

Any new zone of tension in this basin automatically becomes important for Jerusalem as well.

Libya has long remained a territory where the interests of local armed groups, foreign armies, intelligence agencies, and major powers intersect. Russian presence there has been part of Moscow’s broader strategy in Africa and on the southern flank of the Mediterranean for years. If a Ukrainian element has indeed appeared in this direction, it means that the war has reached another level.

For readers who follow such processes together with NAnovosti — Israel News | Nikk.Agency, the important thing here is not only the possible attack on Russian ships. The broader conclusion is also important: the Eastern and Central Mediterranean are gradually turning into a single space of covert confrontation, where the Ukrainian front, Russian operations, Libyan instability, and the interests of regional players are increasingly intersecting.

Moscow’s shadow fleet as a regional threat

The story with QENDIL and Arctic Metagaz is also important because it raises the issue of the Russian shadow fleet again. This is not just about a scheme to circumvent sanctions and transport energy resources.

Such a fleet is also a tool of opaque logistics, the movement of people, equipment, and possibly structures associated with Russian special services.

For Israel, such processes are of particular importance. The more gray routes, opaque crews, and dual-purpose ships in the Mediterranean, the higher the overall regional instability. And in a region where the security of maritime routes affects trade, energy, and strategic planning, such stories cannot be perceived as secondary.

What this changes in the understanding of the war

Ukraine expands the geography of pressure

Even if we set aside the most sensational part of the publication, the RFI investigation shows the main thing: Ukraine, it seems, is trying to pressure Russia not only on the front but also on all the infrastructure that helps Moscow maintain resources, routes, and influence beyond its own borders.

This is an important shift. The war has long ceased to be just a story about the line of contact in Donbas or strikes on Crimea. Now it is about the struggle for logistics, the sea, oil routes, shadow schemes, and external support points of Russian policy.

A new phase of uncertainty begins for the region

If RFI’s information receives additional confirmations, it will mean that the Mediterranean is increasingly being drawn into the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation. For Israel, this means the need to pay even closer attention to what is happening not only in the Black Sea but also in the Libyan direction.

The main question now is not whether a specific strike was carried out from Libyan territory. The main question is whether Libya is becoming a new point from which the Ukrainian war begins to influence the entire Mediterranean balance of power.

And if so, then this is already a story not only about Kyiv and Moscow but about the entire region, where Israel is in the most sensitive zone of consequences.