KYIV: A Ukrainian sea drone full of explosives struck a Russian fuel tanker overnight near a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea, the second such attack within past 24 hours, both sides said on Saturday.

No one was hurt, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea that Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

A Ukrainian intelligence source said the drone with 450kg of explosives hit the SIG vessel as it transported fuel for the Russian military in Ukrainian territorial waters. “The tanker was well loaded with fuel, so the ‘fireworks’ were seen from afar,” the source said, of the joint operation by Ukraine’s navy and security service.

Kyiv says destroying Russia’s military infrastructure inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine is crucial to its counteroffensive after the February 2022 invasion.

Just a day ago, a drone attack on Russia’s navy base at Novorossiysk damaged a warship, followed by a Ukrainian government agency warning that six Russian Black Sea ports — Anapa, Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, Tuapse, Sochi, and Taman — were in “war risk area”.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2023