Ukraine Claims Attack On Black Sea Oil Rig on Which Russian Troops are Based

Ukraine Claims Attack On Black Sea Oil Rig on Which Russian Troops are Based / File Illustration

International Military - Ukraine admits to having attacked an oil drilling rig in the Black Sea . Ukraine says the oil rigs are being used by Russian troops as military installations. Monday's attack was the first attack on offshore energy infrastructure in Crimea since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

The attack targeted an oil drilling rig with four towers. The platform is located about 70 kilometers from the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula. "In those towers, Russia has organized small garrisons and stored equipment for air defense, radar warfare and reconnaissance," Sergiy Bratchuk of the Odessa regional military administration told an online briefing.

"They are being turned into stronghold points that help Russia achieve complete control over the northwestern part of the Black Sea," continued Bratchuk, whose statement was quoted by Interfax Ukraine.

Sergey Aksyonov, head of Russia's annexed Crimea, on Monday accused Ukraine of shelling a Black Sea oil rig off the peninsula. This attack left three people injured and seven others missing. Russian Senator for Crimea Olga Kovitidi later said two other platforms were also hit.

At least one attack was confirmed by Bratchuk, who said the platform was a "legal military target" for Ukraine. "This is a small garrison. It's not just a platform for extracting gas," he said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.

Bratchuk also said Ukrainian forces had "delivered a significant blow to the Russian garrison" on Snake Island, the symbolic Black Sea region taken by Moscow at the start of the Ukraine offensive. But he acknowledged Russia's Black Sea fleet still dominates the region. "They are 80 to 100 kilometers off the coast and the enemy's tactics are missiles, missiles and more missiles," he said.