A Liberian-flagged oil tanker was hit by a drone off Russia’s Black Sea coast, sparking a huge fire and a thick cloud of black smoke visible from the nearby city of Sochi. The crew of 23 people, all Indian nationals, were rescued.
Moscow: “Oil is burning in the open”
The Russian Ministry of Transport reported the attack, according to which “crude oil is burning in the open in the waters of the Black Sea”. The statement specifies that “the extinguishing operations will begin as soon as the intensity of the fire has subsided and the rescue boats can safely approach the tanker”. The tanker was hit by a Ukrainian drone. Kiev has not released any comment on the incident.
Videos and photos released on social media from Sochi – a popular tourist resort on the Black Sea with almost 500,000 inhabitants – show flames in the open sea and a column of black smoke rising into the sky.
Off the coast of Sochi an oil tanker is on fire. According to data from the MarineTraffic service, in that area there is only the Aframax Rio, a Russian oil tanker with the Liberian flag. According to Mash, the vessel was carrying crude oil from Novorossiysk to India and was almost fully loaded https://t.co/cfd0Qq45Qb
— jacopo iacoboni (@jacopo_iacoboni) October 6, 2026
Since the beginning of the conflict, Russia and Ukraine have targeted commercial shipping traffic in the Black Sea. More recently, Russia attacked tankers carrying Ukrainian goods in waters near the coast of Romania.