A Russian tanker, sanctioned by the United States near the strategic bridge linking Russia with Crimea, was damaged by a maritime drone strike on Saturday (5), according to Russian maritime authorities.
No one was injured in the attack on the SIG tanker, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, explained officials installed by Russia in Crimea, territory that was annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
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The United States sanctioned the chemical vessel and its owner, St Petersburg-based Transpetrochart, in 2019 for helping to supply jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria.
“The tanker SIG was hit in the engine room, close to the waterline, as a result of a maritime drone strike,” Russia’s Federal Agency for Maritime and Inland Transport said.
Russian media said the tanker, as it approached the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov, was hit by Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine’s Interfax news agency, citing an unnamed source in the Ukrainian security service, explained that the attack was carried out by Ukraine’s naval and security forces in its territorial waters using maritime drones.
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Reuters could not immediately verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but it has said in recent months that destroying Russia’s military infrastructure helps Kiev’s counteroffensive.
On Friday, a Russian warship was badly damaged in a Ukrainian naval drone strike on Russia’s naval base in Novorossiysk, the first time the Ukrainian navy has projected its power so far from the country’s coast.
Moscow-based officials in Crimea cited that the Crimean Bridge, which was completed by Russia in 2018 and has come under serious attack twice in the war, was not the target of the attack on the tanker.
“Once again, there was no direct attack on the Crimean bridge and there was no explosion in the vicinity,” said Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the Russian-installed governor of Crimea.
Ukraine’s Unian news agency said three explosions were reported in the area.
A Russian-appointed official in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, posted an audio clip in which the tanker requested a tug.
Rogov posted photos on Telegram of what he described as broken fixtures and equipment inside the vessels.
Telegram channels linked to Russia’s security services posted similar photos.
The vessel, according to Rogov, was supplying oil to Russian troops in Syria.
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Source: CNN Brasil
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