A suspected Russian drone attack in Ukraine saw a Turkish tanker hit in the Odesa region Monday, setting the vessel on fire and prompting evacuations across the Danube river in Romania.
The strike happened a day after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy signed a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through the area.
On his visit to Greece, he finalized the agreement for U.S. LNG to flow to Odesa via pipelines from the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis starting in January.
Per the Associated Press, the MT Orinda, carrying liquefied petroleum gas, was hit as it was being offloaded at Izmail port, according to Turkey’s Directorate for Maritime Affairs. All 16 crew members were evacuated.
TALKS STALL AND PUTIN GRINS. WEAK GUARANTEES WILL ONLY INVITE MORE RUSSIAN STRIKES
Footage from across the river in Romania, where residents were told to leave their homes, showed the ship engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke rising into the sky over the river Danube.
Izmail lies on the Black Sea estuary and is one of Ukraine’s most important trade hubs.
The strike came amid renewed Russian attacks targeting the Odesa region’s energy and port infrastructure.
According to reports, regional military head Oleh Kiper said drones caused multiple fires and damaged several civilian vessels.
Following the blast, Romanian authorities ordered the evacuation of residents from the villages of Plauru and Ceatalchioi in Tulcea County, directly across the river from Izmail.
RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINIAN DRONES HIT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DURING INDEPENDENCE DAY STRIKES
Romania’s Defense Ministry also said radar systems had tracked several aerial targets during the night but had found no incursions into Romanian airspace.
The country issued multiple alerts in recent months as Russian strikes near the border intensified.
A statement from the Ministry of National Defense said the “Russian Federation’s forces attacked areas in Ukraine located in the vicinity of the river border with Romania on the night of Sunday, November 16th, to Monday, November 17th.”
“The Ministry of National Defense radar monitoring and surveillance systems detected and tracked targets that evolved in the Ukrainian airspace, in the proximity of Tulcea County,” the statement said.
TALKS STALL AND PUTIN GRINS. WEAK GUARANTEES WILL ONLY INVITE MORE RUSSIAN STRIKES
“MoND notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, with regard to the establishment of alert measures for the population in the north of the county (Izmail area).”
The Danube corridor has also become more important to Ukraine’s export network since Russia withdrew from the U.N.-brokered Black Sea Grain Deal in 2023.
Attacks on the area also raised security concerns for NATO with the alliance reacting by expanding air-defense operations under its Eastern Sentry initiative.
Zelenskyy’s U.S. gas deal aims to secure Ukraine’s winter energy needs as Russia continues to bombard power infrastructure across the country.
