Moscow: A Ukrainian marine drone carrying explosives weakened a Russian fuel tanker overnight near a bridge connecting Russia to seized Crimea, both sides stated on Saturday, news agency Reuters reported.
No one was injured, but the Crimea Bridge and boat service were shut down for many hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
According to a Ukrainian intelligence source, the drone carrying 450 kg of explosives struck the SIG vessel when it was transporting fuel for the Russian troops in Ukrainian territorial waters.
“The tanker was well loaded with fuel, so the ‘fireworks’ were seen from afar,” a source said of the coordinated operation by Ukraine’s navy and security agency, Reuters reported.
Kyiv claims that eliminating Russia’s military infrastructure within Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine is critical to its post-invasion counteroffensive.
On Friday, the Ukrainian navy launched another marine drone strike on Russia’s military base in Novorossiysk, damaging a warship for the first time.
According to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in Ukraine’s southern district of Zaporizhzhia, the SIG tanker had been transporting oil to Russian forces in Syria.
In 2019, the United States sanctioned the tanker and its owner, St. Petersburg-based Transpetrochart, for assisting in the supply of aviation fuel to Syria.
The head of Ukraine’s SBU security service, Vasyl Malyuk, would not acknowledge the latest attack explicitly, but said any event involving Russian ships or the Crimean bridge was “an absolutely logical and efficient step towards the enemy.”
“Moreover, such special operations are conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal,” Malyuk stated on the Telegram messaging app.
According to the RIA news agency, Russia’s Novorossiysk Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, there was no gasoline spill from the SIG since the ship was carrying only technical ballast. With two tugboats close, recovery work was started.
Rogov shared an audio recording of the SIG requesting a tow on Telegram. He also tweeted photos of smashed fixtures and equipment inside the ship.
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