Black Sea Wars: A New Front

For two days in a row, large Russian ships have been subjected to powerful strikes in the waters of the Black Sea. According to CNN journalists, Kyiv thus opens a new front in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

On the night of August 4-5, the Russian tanker "SIG", which transports oil for the Russian army, was blown up near the Crimean Bridge.

From Russian sources, it became known about a mass attack of air and sea drones. In one of the videos on social networks, the conversation of the dispatchers or the patrol service in the Kerch Strait can be heard, confirming the attack.

As a result of hitting the ship, the engine room was completely flooded, and the tanker itself could no longer move and was waiting for emergency tugs. The Russian agency "TASS" confirmed the damage to the ship. On the Crimean Bridge, the occupiers completely stopped traffic and turned off the lights, locals said.

A video of a marine drone attack on a tanker and the consequences of a hit from the ship's deck appeared online.

Subsequently, it became known that the tanker "SIG" has been on the US sanctions list since 2019 due to the ship's transportation of aviation fuel from occupied Crimea to Syria. OSINT analysts shared a study, according to the results of which a tanker delivered fuel to the Russian air group in the Syrian port of Baniyas every month. And while sailing up to Cyprus, it turned the transponder off.

The BBC and NV publications, citing sources in the Security Service of Ukraine, reported that the attack on the Russian tanker "SIG" was a special operation of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Navy of Ukraine, which was carried out by a surface drone with 450 kg of TNT. The ship is one of Russia's most powerful oil tankers.

Earlier the same day, an explosion occurred near the port of Novorossiysk on the combat landing ship "Olenegorsky Miner" of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. At the same time, several sources referring to the Ukrainian special services reported that up to 100 Russian military personnel were present during the attack on the ships.

The photos published on social networks show that the Russian ship has tilted on its side, which indicates the probable flooding of many compartments of the ship. After the attack, several rescue vessels approached the "miner".

British intelligence called the attack on the landing ship in Novorossiysk a serious blow to the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. Scouts believe that the "Olenegorsky Gornyak" became the largest military ship in Russia that got significantly damaged after the liquidation of the cruiser "Moskva" in 2022.

The Financial Times reported that the Ukrainian drone attack put Russian oil exports at risk for the first time since the full-scale invasion began. Moreover, Novorossiysk port is the main oil port of Russia, capable of exporting up to 600,000 barrels of oil per day.

Immediately, several Russian Telegram channels, citing their sources, reported that the Kremlin perceived the attacks as a naval threat from the United States, Great Britain, and France. In the coming days, the Security Council of the Russian Federation is to meet in Moscow, on the agenda of which is the question of the alleged strategic goal of Western countries to deprive Russia of the possibility of commercial shipping. At the same time, Turkey allegedly supports this process with "tacit consent".

At the same time, the State Service of Sea and River Transport of Ukraine, referring to the order of the Ukrainian Navy, declared the waters of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea a zone of military threat. The notice concerns, in particular, six Russian Black Sea ports: Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik, Taman, Tuapse, and Novorossiysk.