Ukraine denies involvement in strike on Russian tanker near Turkey: Could have been staged by Moscow

Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attack on a Russian tanker off the coast of Turkey on December 2, claiming it was a possible provocation by the aggressor country. About this said foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi on social network X.

"Ukraine has nothing to do with this incident, and we officially deny any such accusations by Russian propaganda," the official wrote.

Tykhyi emphasized that the declared route of the ship, which was sailing from Russia to Georgia through Turkey's exclusive economic zone, "does not make sense and suggests that Russia could have staged the whole situation" (it is possible to get from Russia to Georgia by sea and through the two countries' own waters – Ed.)

On Tuesday, December 2, a tanker flying the flag of the aggressor country, MIDVOLGA-2, reported an attack off the coast of Turkey.

Earlier, on the evening of November 28, the country's maritime administration reported explosions on two tankers belonging to the aggressor country's "shadow fleet."

The next day, an interlocutor in the Security Service of Ukraine confirmed LIGA.net that the defeat of these occupiers' vessels was carried out by his secret service and the Ukrainian Navy.

"Sea Baby marine drones disabled vessels that could carry almost $70 million worth of oil and helped the Kremlin circumvent international sanctions," the source emphasized.

In response to this attack, the Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed "concern"and the president of the country Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called it  "an alarming escalation".

So far, Ukraine has not officially recognized these attacks, and Turkey has not directly accused Kyiv.

• On December 1, it also became known that in late November, explosions occurred on another tanker involved in the transportation of Russian oil the incident occurred off the coast of Africa.