Ukraine struck two fuel tankers overnight offshore Russia’s southern coast, deepening the fuel crisis in Russia. The two tankers were hit in Taganrog Bay, the northeastern arm of the Sea of Azov in the southern Russian Rostov region.
Yury Slyusar, the governor of the Rostov region, posted on Telegram early on Thursday that two tankers were hit in Taganrog Bay. The vessels suffered “mechanical damage” and caught fire, while no injuries or casualties were reported by the Russian authorities.
The hits on the two tankers, which were en route to deliver fuel to southern Russia, which is reeling from shortages, suggest the expanding scope of Ukraine’s attacks on Russian fuel supply infrastructure.
Ukraine is now targeting fuel supply routes and vessels, alongside a persistent campaign to hit Russian refineries and force them out of operation.
Earlier this week, Ukraine hit Russia’s biggest refinery, Gazprom Neft’s Omsk refinery, which halted operations after a Ukrainian drone strike damaged key processing units at the 440,000-barrel-per-day facility.
