Ukraine drone attack damages Russian tanker

Ukraine carried out a drone strike overnight on a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait, a day after one of Moscow's ships was hit in the Black Sea, a Ukrainian security source told AFP on Saturday.

It was the latest attack around the Black Sea since Moscow exited a deal last month that had protected Ukrainian grain exports despite the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

"Overnight the (Ukrainian Security Service) SBU blew up the 'SIG', a large oil tanker belonging to the Russian Federation that was transporting fuel for Russian troops," the Ukrainian source said.

The tanker SIG was hit at around 11:20 pm (2020 GMT) on Friday south of the Kerch Strait, Russia's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport said.

The ship suffered a hole at the waterline in the area of the engine room but is afloat, the agency said.

In a video obtained by AFP purporting to show the attack, a vessel is seen approaching a large ship before the connection cuts off.

The Ukrainian source said the "successful special operation", which involved a naval drone and explosives, was carried out jointly with the navy in Ukrainian territorial waters.

The ship was "well-loaded with fuel, so the 'fireworks' could be seen from afar", it added.

The oil and chemical tanker is under US sanctions for supplying jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria who are supporting President Bashar al-Assad.

The Russian foreign ministry condemned the attack on a "civilian vessel, which not only threatened to kill its crew but also posed the risk of a large-scale environmental disaster". The ministry said the crew was not injured and repair works are underway.

Traffic on a key bridge across the Kerch Strait linking the Moscow-annexed Crimea peninsula to Russia's mainland resumed early on Saturday after a three-hour halt, according to the Russian highways information centre's Telegram channel.