Russia’s Transportation Ministry said Wednesday that a Ukrainian naval drone attacked a Russian-flagged liquefied natural gas carrier in the Mediterranean Sea after earlier reports said the ship had erupted in a blaze near Malta.
The ministry said the attack took place on Tuesday near the territorial waters of Malta, an EU member, and targeted the LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz.
“The tanker was carrying cargo documented in full compliance with international regulations from the port of Murmansk,” the ministry said in a statement.
It claimed the Ukrainian naval drone that attacked Arctic Metagaz was launched from the coast of Libya. The ministry called the incident an “act of international terrorism and piracy.”
Maltese and Russian rescuers managed to bring all 30 crewmembers of the LNG tanker to safety, the Transportation Ministry said.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the incident.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Malta’s armed forces received a distress signal from Arctic Metagaz, which is under U.S. and U.K. sanctions. The tanker’s crewmembers were later found in a lifeboat within Libya’s search-and-rescue region.
Images shared on social media appeared to show the vessel engulfed in flames at night. It was not immediately possible to verify their authenticity.
Ukraine previously claimed to have attacked Russian oil tankers with naval drones near Turkey’s Black Sea coast. In December, Ukraine reportedly struck a Russian oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea.
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