The escalation of attacks on commercial shipping in the wider Black Sea region took a deadly turn early Thursday after a Ukrainian drone strike hit a tanker docked at the southern Russian port of Rostov-on-Don, killing and injuring two crewmembers and setting the vessel ablaze.
Russian news agencies quoted Rostov-on-Don mayor Alexander Skryabin as saying: “Emergency teams are extinguishing the fire on the tanker that was struck while docked in a drone attack. A leak of oil products was avoided. Unfortunately, there are dead and injured.” Regional governor Yuri Slyusar confirmed casualties among the crew, though the full details remain unclear.
Multiple reports identified the vessel as the 1969-built tanker Valery Gorchakov, which caught fire alongside the pier after the strike. The blast also damaged port infrastructure in the Sea of Azov-linked city, with local officials reporting damage to nearby buildings.
The attack comes amid a rapid deterioration in maritime security in the Black Sea and adjoining waters. Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian oil infrastructure and shipping, including repeated attacks on tankers linked to Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet. Between late November and early December, Ukrainian sea drones struck the tankers Kairos, Virat and Dashan, actions Kyiv says are aimed at disrupting Russian oil exports.
Russia has responded with threats of its own. President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would “cut Ukraine off from the sea” and strike tankers from countries supporting Kyiv. Those warnings followed Russian attacks last week on Ukrainian ports that damaged three Turkish-owned vessels and sparked a major fire.
The head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization has warned that the spiralling attacks are placing civilian crews and the environment at growing risk. IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said earlier this week: “As the situation continues to escalate in the Black Sea, I call on all parties to refrain from targeting innocent seafarers, port workers and merchant ships. Shipping should not be used as collateral in geopolitical situations and there is an increased environmental risk developing.”
Mark Dickinson from the International Transport Workers’ Federation said earlier: “Seafarers are not a weapon of war. No political or military objective justifies endangering civilian crews.”
