Russia accuses Ukrainian drones of attack on LNG Ship in Mediterranean
The Russian transport ministry accused Ukrainian drones on Wednesday of attacking the Arctic Metagaz, a Russian LNG carrier that caught fire in a Mediterranean sea?a day before.
It would be the first attack on a Russian LNG ship by Ukraine if confirmed.
The Security Service in Ukraine did not reply to a comment request.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure to 'deprive'?Russia of funding.
The Russian transport ministry confirmed that all 30 crew members were safe.
In a statement, the ministry stated that "we qualify what happened as a maritime piracy and an act of international terror. This is a gross violation of the fundamental standards of international maritime law."
The?vessel was carrying a cargo from the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk and was attacked in international waters owned by Malta.
The ministry stated that Ukrainian drones had launched their attack off the coast of Libya.
Novatek, Russia's largest LNG producer and the?vessel?s manager LLC SMP Techmanagement based in Russia have yet to comment on the incident. Reporting by FilippLebedev and Vladimir Soldatkin Editing done by Andrew Osborn, Bernadettebaum and Andrew Osborn
(source: Reuters)
