By Euronews with AP
Published on
One of Russia’s largest oil terminals has suspended operations following an overnight drone attack. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s marine terminal in Novorossiysk was struck by sea drones at around 4AM in the morning, local media reported.
It comes just a few hours after naval drones struck two oil tankers off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea, an attack which Ukraine has claimed.
The attack had triggered an extensive rescue operation. The crews of the two ships were rescued thanks to the rapid intervention of the coast guard and rescue units
The first ship, the Gambia-flagged Kairos, exploded and caught fire about 28 nautical miles off the Turkish coast of Kocaeli province, while sailing without cargo from Egypt to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, the Turkish Transport Ministry reported.
Shortly afterwards, a second tanker, the Virat, was reported to have been ‘struck’ in another area of the Black Sea, about 35 nautical miles off the Turkish coast.
The ships are on the list of those subject to international sanctions, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and are identified as part of the fleet of old cargo ships used by Moscow to circumvent restrictions on Russian crude oil.
According to the website OpenSanctions, the US sanctioned Virat in January this year, followed by the EU, Switzerland, the UK and Canada.
The EU then sanctioned Kairos in July this year, followed by the UK and Switzerland.
An official from Ukraine’s security services told press agency The Associated Press that Kyiv used domestically produced Sea Baby naval drones to strike the tankers, which were capable of transporting oil worth of just over €60 million.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Ukrainian intelligence continued “to take active steps to curtails Russia’s financial capabilities to wage war against Ukraine.”