By Euronews Russia
Published on
Ukraine has a military presence in Libya and the attack on the Russian gas carrier Arctic Metagaz in the Mediterranean Sea was carried out by the Ukrainian military. This is the result of an investigation by French public broadcaster RFI.
According to its two anonymous sources in Libya, more than 200 Ukrainian officers and specialists are stationed in the country. Some of them are based at the Air Force Academy in the city of Misrata, where Turkish and Italian forces are also stationed, as well as the US Africa Command and the British intelligence centre.
According to this, the Ukrainians also have a second base, fully equipped to launch air and sea drones, in the port city of Ezzawiya – about 50 kilometres north of Tripoli.
In this city, the Ukrainian specialists occupy a plot of land given to them by the Tripoli government, headed by Abdelhamid Dbeiba, with direct access to the sea. It is reported that in October-November last year the site was being fortified and equipped with airstrips and necessary antennas.
RFI reports that the agreement between Kiev and Tripoli was signed after a request from the Ukrainian military attaché in Algeria, General Andriy Bayuk. It is specified that in exchange Ukrainian specialists trained the Libyan military, in particular how to work with drones. In the long term, the agreement envisages arms deliveries and Ukrainian investments in Libya’s oil sector.
French journalists asked for comments from Ukraine and Dbeiba’s government, but received no response.
Attack on Arctic Metagas
On 4 March 2026, Moscow accused the Ukrainians and British security services of attacking the Russian gas carrier Arktik Metagaz from the Libyan coast. The vessel, part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” was loaded with liquefied natural gas and was en route to Egypt’s Port Said.
RFI, citing Libyan sources, says the tanker was attacked by an autonomous surface drone of theMagura V5type, developed by Ukraine and already used several times in the Black Sea. The drone hit the engine room, which quickly filled with water, putting the vessel out of action.
Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed or commented on the attack.
On board the Arctic Metagas were reportedly 60,000 tonnes of natural gas and fuel reserves. After the crew was evacuated by the Maltese authorities, the damaged vessel began to move towards Libya, which decided to tow it to one of its ports. However, the operation to tow the Russian tanker failed this week. The damaged vessel snapped off the cable and drifted into the sea.
Last December, SBU forces had already struck a tanker of the Russian “shadow fleet” Qendil in the Mediterranean Sea. This was reported by Ukrainian media at the time, citing a source in the SBU.
According to RFI, this attack was also carried out by a maritime drone from a base from the Misrata area.
At the time, this was an unprecedented attack in the Mediterranean Sea, although the Ukrainian military had previously successfully used maritime drones to target vessels in the Black Sea.