Russian officials say that a Russian tanker with 11 crew members has been targeted in a Ukrainian attack in the Black Sea.
He said that the ship’s engine room was damaged in the overnight strike in the Kerch Strait. No one was hurt.
Russia’s Maritime Transport Agency later named the vessel Sig Tanker. He gave his location as 17 miles (27 km) south of Crimean Bridge.
Ukraine has not commented publicly. But a source in Ukraine’s security service told JEE News that maritime drones had been used.
He said the operation was carried out jointly with the Ukrainian Navy and used 450 kg of TNT explosives.
The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating Crimea – the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 – and Russia’s Taman Peninsula.
Naval drones, or marine drones, are small, unmanned aircraft that operate on or below the water’s surface. Investigations by JEE News Verify show that Ukraine has carried out several attacks by maritime drones, including one on a Russian ship on Friday.
Russia’s state-run Tass news agency quoted an official from the country’s regional Marine Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) as saying that two tugs south of the Kerch Strait had already arrived at the attack site.
“The engine room is damaged. Not much, but it is damaged,” the official said.
Russia’s maritime transport agency RosMorRechFlot later said the ship “had a hole in the engine room area near the waterline on the starboard side, probably as a result of a maritime drone attack”.
“The ship is floating,” he added.
Russian state media also reported that lights on the Crimean Bridge – further north – were turned off and all traffic stopped amid warnings of an imminent attack.
If the attack is confirmed, it would be the latest such drone strike in the region.
Ukrainian security sources told JEE News that a Russian navy ship was seriously damaged in a drone strike by the Ukrainian navy near Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Friday.
Footage later emerged purportedly showing the drone colliding with the Olenigorsky Gornyak large landing craft. Another unverified video shows a heavily listed ship being brought into port.
But Russia’s defense ministry said it had repelled a Ukrainian attack on its naval base in Novorossiysk that involved two naval drones, but did not acknowledge any casualties.
Novorossiysk, a major center of Russian exports, lies southeast of the Kerch Strait.
Clashes at sea have escalated in recent weeks after Russia abandoned a major UN agreement that would have allowed grain to be safely exported in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian ports have been hit by Russian drones and missiles, and Kiev has threatened retaliation.
In a separate development, Saudi Arabia is scheduled to host talks on ending the war in Ukraine later on Saturday.
Invitations have been sent to about 30 countries – not Russia – to attend the meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
