Russia's Black Sea Fleet Suffers More Problems as Video Shows Tanker Strike

Dramatic footage has shown a strike on a Russian tanker that came only a day after one of Moscow's warships was hit by a drone.

There has been an increase in the number of attacks in the region by both sides since Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal last month that had allowed Ukrainian grain exports via the shipping hub.

The latest strike shared on social media shows a drone targeting a Russian oil and chemical tanker in the Kerch Strait which stopped traffic on the bridge linking occupied Crimea to Russia for three hours.

Russia's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport said the tanker SIG, which had 11 crew members, was hit around 11:20 pm Friday. The Kyiv Post reported that the vessel was one of Russia's best tankers and had been transporting fuel for Russian troops.

Video shared on social media from a camera on the drone shows the device skimming the surface of the war and approaching the vessel at speed before the images faded out upon collision.

The strike blew a hole at the waterline by the engine room, "presumably as a result of an attack by a marine drone," the Russian agency said on Telegram. "The ship is afloat." Russian media reported that no one had been injured in the strike and there was no oil spillage.

A Ukrainian security service source told the BBC a sea drone had been used, while Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief Vasyl Maliuk said such attacks were "absolutely logical" and "completely legal" without directly claiming responsibility.

The pro-Ukrainian X (formerly Twitter) account War Translated wrote next to the clip: "Excellent footage of the strike on the Russian tanker in the Black Sea, which was originally confused for an attack against the illegal bridge.

"Obviously, this incident was overshadowed by what happened to another military ship just under 24h earlier, but the effect of both incidents was powerful. There is no reason to believe this is the last Russian vessel that will go down.

That referred to the strike in the previous 24 hours on Russian navy ship Olenegorsky Gornyak near Novorossiysk in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, a major navy base and oil-exporting port east of Russian-occupied Crimea.

The 3,600 tonne, 360-feet long vessel which launches amphibious forces, is often assigned to Russia's Northern Fleet has been used by the Black Sea Fleet since the start of the war in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that Ukraine's Security Service and its navy were behind the strike. British defense officials said it was the largest Russian naval vessel seriously damaged or destroyed since the sinking of the cruiser Moskva on April 13, 2022.

Martin Devenish, head of corporate intelligence at security firm S-RM, told Newsweek that the first military strike on Russian oil infrastructure "is unlikely to shake markets significantly."

However, he believed Russia is likely to respond by playing down the damage caused while simultaneously restating its justification for continued military operations.

"We probably won't see a visible shift in the types of targets, even if Russia does temporarily ramp up the tempo and scale of its attacks as a response," Devenish said.

On Friday, Ukraine's naval forces appeared to warn of future regional strikes, saying the waters of Anapa, Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, Tuapse, Sochi, and Taman in the Russian-controlled part of the Black Sea, were part of the "war risk" area.

On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on two Black Sea patrol boats, the Sergei Kotov and Vasily Bykov,—that were sailing around 210 miles southwest of the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

It came as Moscow seeks to enforce a renewed naval blockade on Ukrainian shipping. After pulling out of the grain deal, Moscow had targeted the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and the wider region, with strikes on food facilities.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment.