Ukrainian naval drones hit and disabled a tanker used to trade Russian oil on Sunday as it sailed through Ukraine's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea towards the Russian port of Novorossiysk, a Ukrainian official said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
The attack is the third such attack in two weeks against a ship from Russia's so-called "shadow fleet", which Kiev says helps Moscow export significant amounts of oil to finance the war in Ukraine, bypassing Western sanctions.
The tanker "Dashan" was sailing at maximum speed with its transponders off when powerful explosions shook its stern, causing severe damage to the vessel, an official from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said. The official did not say whether there were any casualties or injuries in the attack.
The strike on the tanker "Dashan", which is under sanctions by the European Union and Britain and is sailing without a country of registration, was confirmed by three maritime security agencies, Reuters reported. There has been no comment on the case from the Russian side so far.