A Russian tanker was hit by Ukrainian drones within the Kerch Strait, briefly halting visitors on the strategic bridge linking Crimea to Russia, Russian media reported early Saturday.
The tanker was broken within the assault and two tugboats had arrived on the scene, the state-run TASS information company mentioned, citing the Maritime Rescue Center.
No gas had spilled from the ship, which had 11 individuals on board, TASS mentioned.
The Moscow Times identified the vessel because the chemical tanker SIG, which is underneath U.S. sanctions for supplying jet gas to Russian forces in Syria supporting President Bashar al-Assad.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official within the southern Ukrainian area of Zaporizhzhia, said a number of members of the ship’s crew had been injured by damaged glass within the assault.
“The detonation due to the explosion on the ship was visible from the peninsula, which the local residents thought was an explosion in the vicinity of Yakovenkovo settlement not far from the Crimean bridge,” Rogov wrote on Telegram.
Traffic on the bridge linking the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula to Russia was halted for round three hours and resumed early Saturday, in response to the highways info middle’s Telegram channel.
The Marine Traffic vessel-tracking web site confirmed the SIG stationary and attended by tugs simply south of the strait.
The newest assault within the Black Sea got here a day after Ukraine mentioned it had carried out a seaborne drone strike on a Russian navy ship at Novorossiysk naval base in southern Russia.
Russia mentioned Friday it had repelled an tried assault on the bottom by the Ukrainian armed forces “with the use of two unmanned sea boats.”
The variety of assaults within the Black Sea by each side has elevated since Moscow exited a deal final month that had allowed Ukrainian grain exports by way of the delivery hub through the battle between the 2 nations.
