Oil Tanker Carrying 23 Indians Attacked Near Black Sea, Crew Rescued

Ukraine struck an oil tanker off the southern Russian coast on Tuesday evening, triggering a huge fire and black smoke cloud that blanketed parts of the resort city of Sochi. 

Both sides have heavily targeted commercial shipping around the Black Sea since the start of the conflict in 2022, with Russia in recent days hitting grain vessels carrying Ukrainian goods near the coast of EU member Romania.

Videos and photos circulated widely on social media from Sochi -- a popular resort



city of almost 500,000 people -- showing bright orange flames out at sea and a thick column of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Russia's transport ministry said a Liberian-flagged tanker had been attacked by "naval drones" and that "crude oil is burning openly in the waters of the Black Sea". Firefighters could not tackle the blaze due to its intensity, but a crew of 23 -- all Indian citizens -- had been rescued, it added. Access to the coast and beaches was being restricted, the city's mayor said on social media.