Translated material
A Ukrainian naval drone blew up a tanker serving the Russian Ministry of Defense in the area of the Crimean Bridge
On Friday night, a Ukrainian surface drone exploded next to the Sig tanker, which at that time was approaching the Kerch Strait . The tanker is included in the US sanctions list for supplying fuel to the Russian military in Syria.
Details . According to Rosmorrechflot, the attack occurred on Friday at 23:20 . The ship received a hole in the engine room area, but remained afloat. on the tanker's crew There are 11 people , none of them were injured.
- "Rybar" reported that the ship's engine room was flooded . by Baza also indicate partial flooding Photos published . The photographs show water in the engine room and destruction in the tanker's premises.
- on Telegram channels appeared A video in which the moment a sea drone hit a tanker was filmed on the camera of the drone itself. In addition, the telegram channel “Caution, News” published a recording of conversations between the ship’s crew . In the recording, a crew member says that the tanker was not loaded at the time of the attack. “The water rose up to the waterline and stopped,” he notes.
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During the attack, Russian authorities were once again suspected of spreading false information. After the first reports of explosions in the area of the Crimean Bridge, adviser to the head of Crimea Oleg Kryuchkov said that a threat of attack had been announced, but the sounds of the explosion were not related to the bridge. as part of a blackout At the same time, the telegram channel “Rybar”, close to the Ministry of Defense, reported that the lighting on the Crimean Bridge was turned off . Traffic on the bridge was also blocked at night (but resumed ). A representative of the Russian administration of the Zaporozhye region, Vladimir Rogov , said that were destroyed in the Kerch Strait. three surface-to-air drones
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“It is clear that there is no need for panic, and, speaking about the absence of any explosions, the adviser to the head of Crimea is trying to reassure citizens. However, sometimes such a position backfires, as was the case in the morning with the large landing ship in Novorossiysk ,” wrote Rybar.
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The damaged tanker "Sig" belongs to the St. Petersburg company "Transpetrochart" . since 2019 It has been under US sanctions . The FBI believes he was part of a scheme to supply fuel to the Russian military in Syria. As Rybar wrote , on August 1, this ship was moving along the Bosphorus, accompanied by the patrol ships Vasily Bykov and Sergey Kotov , which, according to the Ministry of Defense, were attacked by Ukrainian naval drones. According to Rybar, the ship was coming from Syria, where it was delivering oil products for the Russian group.
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The head of the SBU, Vasily Malyuk, said that “any “slam” that occurs with Russian ships or the Crimean Bridge” is a logical step towards the enemy. “Moreover, such special operations are carried out in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal,” emphasized he . The Ukrainian BBC service, citing a source in the SBU , reported that the attack on the tanker was a joint operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Navy . According to the publication, the surface drone carried 450 kg of TNT.
Context . The new attack showed that Ukraine does not intend to limit its attacks only to Russian warships, but is also ready to attack civilian ships that work for the Russian Ministry of Defense. This may affect the supply of the Russian military group in Syria.