Ukraine attacks Russian ships near Crimea, escalates attacks on oil supplies

Releasing the Sea of ​​Azov does not necessarily guarantee safety from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Ukraine’s General Staff released footage Wednesday of a naval drone attack on the oil tanker Blue.

On-board footage shows the drone approaching the ship as it begins to escape fire before the video cuts to the ship’s hull.

The location could not be confirmed, but Ukraine said the incident took place near Yalta, a Black Sea resort town in Crimea.

The attack on the oil tankers coincided with an ongoing strike at Russian oil refineries, which has led to widespread fuel shortages across the country, including in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has argued that Kiev is responding to Russian aggression by targeting oil facilities and that Russians “should feel that it is their territory that is waging war”.

Two more attacks on fuel tanks in the middle of Taganrog Bay were highlighted by Yug Rusi, an unnamed oil terminal in the Tver and Stavropol regions, hundreds of kilometers from the front line, as well as in the Rostov region.

US President Donald Trump said he had increased the drone strategy during a meeting with Zelenskiy at the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday, saying “but it is an escalation that could lead to an end”.

But what seems to have intensified in recent days is the scale of drone attacks on Russian maritime logistics.

Brovdi claimed to have attacked 12 tankers in just one night between Wednesday and Thursday, and pro-Russian military sources did not question the details or accuracy of the footage.