21 June 2022

Ukraine attacks oil drilling platforms off Russia's Crimea coast in The Black Sea

Three very recent reports

Ukraine Attacks Crimea Oil Drilling Platforms, 1st Since Russia Invasion

Russia-Ukraine War: Five people had been saved, three of them injured, while the search continued for others "with the involvement of patrol ships and aviation".

<div class=__reading__mode__extracted__imagecaption>Russia-Ukraine War: This is the first reported strike against offshore energy infrastructure in Crimea.

Moscow:

The head of Moscow-controlled Crimea on Monday accused Ukraine of firing on oil drilling platforms off the coast of the peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014.

"This morning the enemy attacked the drilling platforms of Chernomorneftegaz," Sergey Aksyonov said on Telegram, referring to the Crimea-based oil and gas company.

"I am in contact with our colleagues from the defence ministry and the FSB (security agency), we are working on saving people," he added.

According to him, five people had been saved, three of them injured, while the search continued for others "with the involvement of patrol ships and aviation".

Aksyonov did not specify which platforms had been affected, but the Chernomorneftegaz operates several gas and oil fields in the Black Sea and in the Sea of Azov.

This is the first reported strike against offshore energy infrastructure in Crimea since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated

 

Ukraine attacks oil drilling platforms off Crimea coast: Official

Head of Moscow-controlled Crimea says three people were injured, seven missing after Ukraine fired on Black Sea oil drilling platforms.

<div class=__reading__mode__extracted__imagecaption>A gas storage facility of the Chernomorneftegaz company in Crimea's Chernomorsky district in 2014 [Reuters]

The governor of Moscow-controlled Crimea has said three people were injured and seven are missing after Ukraine fired on three oil drilling platforms in the Black Sea off the Russian-annexed peninsula.

“We confirm that there are three injured and seven reported missing. We guarantee that the search will continue,” Governor Sergey Aksyonov said on Telegram on Monday, referring to platforms of the Crimea-based oil and gas company Chernomorneftegaz.

This is the first reported strike against the offshore energy infrastructure in Crimea since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Aksyonov, installed by Russia as the peninsula’s governor after the 2014 annexation by Moscow, had previously said five people were injured in the attack before revising the casualty figures.

He said three platforms were targeted, triggering the evacuation of 94 people on the sites, while 15 soldiers remained to guard them.

A search and rescue operation was continuing by air and sea, he said.

Chernomorneftegaz, sanctioned by the United States since 2014, operates several gas and oil fields in the Black Sea and in the Sea of Azov.

Aksyonov said that one platform had been hit, and Olga Kovitidi, a Russian senator for Crimea, told the RIA Novosti agency that there were no victims on the two other platforms that were targeted in the attack.

The Ukrainian military said a food warehouse in the Black Sea port of Odesa was destroyed in a Russian missile attack, but no civilians were killed.

The city has come under sporadic bombardment since the start of the war and is blockaded by the Russian navy, while each side accuses the other of laying mines in the sea.

Ukraine’s Operational Command “South” said Russian forces had fired 14 missiles at southern Ukraine during a three-hour barrage “in impotent anger at the successes of our troops”.

Russia’s military did not immediately comment on the reports.

2

Ukraine delivers three strikes at Black Sea drilling rigs, Crimean leader reports

According to earlier reports, several people were wounded
Crimean governor Sergey Aksyonov Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS
Crimean governor Sergey Aksyonov
© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS

SIMFEROPOL, June 20. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have delivered three strikes at Chernomorneftegaz drilling rigs in the Black Sea, Crimean leader Sergey Aksyonov said on Rossiya-24 television on Monday.

"The first strike was delivered at 8:37 am Moscow time, and in all, there have been three strikes at three natural gas rigs," he said.

Earlier on Monday, Aksyonov reported several people wounded in a Ukrainian strike at the Black Sea rigs.

Crimea’s state-owned Chernomorneftegaz produces natural gas and gas condensate and holds a license to develop the Povorotnoye natural gas deposit. The company has drilling rigs off Crimea’s Black Sea coast, on the peninsula and in the Sea of Azov.

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