Russia promises retaliation after Ukrainian drones hit Russian tanker in 2nd sea attack in a day

Moscow promised retaliation on Saturday after Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker in the Black Sea near Crimea late on Friday the second sea attack involving drones in one day Ukraine struck a major Russian port earlier on FridayMoscow strongly condemned what it sees as a Ukrainian terrorist attack on a civilian vessel in the Kerch Strait said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova There can be no justification for such barbaric actions they will not go unanswered and their authors and perpetrators will inevitably be punished she wrote on the Telegram messaging appAs Kyivs naval capabilities grow the Black Sea is becoming an increasingly important battleground in the war Three weeks ago Moscow withdrew from a key export agreement that allowed Ukraine to ship millions of tons of grain across the Black Sea for sale on world markets In the wake of that withdrawal Russia carried out repeated strikes on Ukrainian ports including OdesaAn official with Ukraines Security Service confirmed to The Associated Press that the service was behind the attack on the tanker which was transporting fuel for Russian forces A sea drone filled with 450 kilograms 992 pounds of TNT was used for the attack added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to give official statementsThe Sig tanker suffered a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side presumably as a result of a sea drone attack Russias Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport wrote on Telegram adding that there were no casualties among the 11 crew members Vladimir Rogov a Kremlininstalled official in Ukraines partiallyoccupied southern Zaporizhzhia region said several members of the ships crew were wounded because of broken glassWithout specifying that Ukraine was responsible for the drone strike Vasyl Malyuk who leads Ukraines Security Service said that such special operations are conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal Any such explosions he said are an absolutely logical and effective step with regard to the enemyThe attack briefly halted traffic on the Kerch Bridge as well as ferry transport Tugboats were deployed to assist the tanker which is under United States sanctions for helping provide jet fuel to Russian forces fighting in Syria according to Russias Tass news agencyUkraines earlier strike on Novorossiysk halted maritime traffic for a few hours and marked the first time a commercial Russian port has been targeted in the nearly 18monthold conflict The port has a naval base shipbuilding yards and an oil terminal and is key for exports It lies about 110 kilometres about 60 miles east of CrimeaShipping expert Jayendu Krishna told The Associated Press that the attacks left Russian shipping activity largely unaffected He believes that they may increase the risk of Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports rather than serving as a tool to put pressure on Russia to halt attacks and reinstate the grain dealEvery time anything happens to Russia you see Putin in retaliation mode therefore you may see further attacks on other parts of Ukraine Krishna said I think it will probably compound the effect and compound the risk in the Black Sea rather than reducing it he added It is very difficult for me to imagine that Russia will give in unless and until their banks have smooth operations and they are able to export their own cargo uninterruptedlyA Telegram post on Saturday by Deputy Chair of Russias Security Council Dmitry Medvedev implied that Russia would increase its attacks against Ukrainian ports in response to Kyivs attacks on Russian ships in the Black Sea Apparently the strikes on Odesa Izmail and other places were not enough for them he wroteIn other developments Russias Defence Ministry said on Saturday it captured a settlement in Ukraines easternmost Luhansk region most of which is occupied by Russia In the area of Kupiansk the settlement of Novoselivske was liberated the ministry wrote on Telegram Elsewhere a twoday summit on finding a peaceful settlement to the war kicked off in Saudi ArabiaSenior officials from around 40 countries but not Russia will aim to agree on key principles on how to end the conflict It is very important because in such matters as food security the fate of millions of people in Africa Asia and other parts of the world directly depends on how fast the world will be in implementing the Peace Formula Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the summit I am grateful to Saudi Arabia for this platform for negotiationsThe main Ukrainian envoy to the summit in Jeddah chief Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak spoke of the talks on Friday night in a television interview published on his Telegram account I expect that the conversation will be difficult but behind us is truth behind us is goodness he said Commenting on the talks in Saudi Arabia Zakharova told Russian state media that the idea of making decisions on the conflict without the participation of Moscow was absurd Nevertheless she said delegates have full scope for creativity to discuss the issueThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever