Russian tanker hit by Ukrainian drones in Kerch Strait
A Russian tanker was hit by Ukrainian drones in the Kerch Strait, briefly halting traffic on the strategic bridge linking Crimea to Russia, Russian media reported on Saturday, amid growing tensions in the Black Sea.
The ship was damaged and two tugs arrived on the scene, TASS news agency quoted the sea rescue center as saying. eleven people on board.
According to Moscow Timesit is a chemical tanker, which is the subject of American sanctions for having supplied fuel to the Russian forces which came to the aid of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad during the war in Syria.
Several crew members were injured by shards of glass during the attack, an official, appointed by Russia in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, assured on Telegram.
Traffic on the bridge linking the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow, to Russia was suspended for three hours before resuming early Saturday morning, according to the highway information center.
The Kerch Bridge is the only work of its kind that connects the peninsula to Russia and is used in particular to transport equipment to the Russian military on the Ukrainian front.
This latest attack comes the day after a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian warship at a Black Sea base in Novorossiysk. Officially, kyiv did not communicate about a possible attack. “A new Russian ship is about to sink”nevertheless commented the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on social networks, alongside a video showing a building tilted sharply to the side.
This is the first attack of its kind against Novorossiysk, a major oil port and terminus of an oil pipeline of about 1,500 kilometers from the oil fields of western Kazakhstan and Russian regions north of the sea. Caspian. Most of the Kazakh oil intended for export passes through this channel.
Attacks, both Russian and Ukrainian, have increased in the Black Sea since Moscow withdrew last month from a deal that allowed Ukraine to export its grain.