Ukrainian Drones Target Russian Tanker in Kerch Strait: An Escalation in Black Sea Conflict

Kerch Strait, Russia (TEH) – A chemical tanker of Russian origin was struck by Ukrainian drones in the Kerch Strait, just a day subsequent to Kyiv’s claim of a successful drone attack on a Russian naval vessel, as per statements by Russian authorities.

The tanker, identified as SIG, “endured damage to the engine room near the waterline on the right side, assumed to be the aftermath of a sea drone assault,” articulated the Russian Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport in the early hours of Saturday. It was further clarified that the attack didn’t result in any loss of life, as reported by the Guardian.

Following the incident, two tugboats were dispatched to the distressed tanker, as reported by Tass, a state-owned news agency, referencing the Maritime Rescue Centre. The incident led to a temporary suspension of traffic on the Kerch Bridge, a pivotal artery connecting the Russian-occupied Crimea to the mainland of Russia.

Officials assigned by Russia revealed that multiple explosions were heard near the bridge in the early hours of Saturday, allegedly connected to the attack on the tanker. Importantly, Tass affirmed that no fuel leak occurred from the impacted ship, which had a crew of 11 onboard.

Ukraine, known for its reticence regarding attacks on Russian targets, did not issue any official commentary about the incident. Meanwhile, The Moscow Times identified the attacked vessel as the SIG, a chemical tanker that has been placed under US sanctions for supplying jet fuel to Russian forces operating in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

An official appointed by Russia in Zaporizhzhia, a region in southern Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, stated that a few crew members sustained injuries from shattered glass during the assault. The detonation from the ship explosion was noticeable from the peninsula, leading local residents to believe that an explosion had occurred in the vicinity of Yakovenkovo, located close to the Crimean Bridge.

Traffic was interrupted for roughly three hours on the Kerch Bridge following the attack, resuming early on Saturday, as per the highways information centre’s Telegram channel.

The Kerch Strait witnessed this attack in the wake of Ukraine’s announcement about a successful drone strike on a Russian warship at Novorossiysk naval base in southern Russia. In response, Russia claimed to have thwarted an attempted attack on the base by the Ukrainian military “utilizing two unmanned sea boats.”

The frequency of attacks in the Black Sea has seen a sharp rise since Moscow’s withdrawal from an agreement last month that had facilitated Ukrainian grain exports through the shipping hub amidst the ongoing conflict. The bridge, constructed by Russia in 2018, four years after Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine, has been the target of two major attacks since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 17 months ago, with the most recent attack taking place last month.