Ukraine denies role in attack on Russian tanker off Türkiye

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi has said that Ukraine has had no involvement in the incident with the tanker Midvolga-2, which was reportedly attacked while sailing from Russia to Georgia with a cargo of sunflower oil.

Earlier reports said that another Russian tanker reported an attack off Türkiye's coast.

"Ukraine has nothing to do with this incident, and we officially refute any allegations of such kind made by Russian propaganda," Tykhyi wrote on X.

Tykhyi added that the stated route from Russia to Georgia through Türkiye's exclusive economic zone makes little sense and "suggests that Russia may have staged the whole thing".

Türkiye's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs has said earlier that the tanker Midvolga-2, "travelling from Russia to Georgia with a cargo of sunflower oil", "was attacked" approximately 80 miles (around 120 km) off the coast of Türkiye.

Two sanctioned tankers were reported to have caught fire on 28 November in the Black Sea off the coast of Türkiye as a result of external strikes. Ukrainska Pravda sources in the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said that the two tankers were blown up in a special operation by SSU.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the incidents "a disturbing escalation".