Lidia Kelly News

Ukrainian sea drones hit and sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday.Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency said a special unit called Group 13 had fired Magura V5 maritime drones at the Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.It said on the Telegram messaging app that the vessel had sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides, at an estimated cost of $65 million."Right now this ship is on the seabed as a result of fire damage by unmanned boats…

Ukrainian sea drones damaged a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea, Ukrainian military intelligence said on Tuesday.The intelligence agency said on Telegram messaging app that its special unit Group 13 attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait."As a result of a strike by Magura V5 maritime drones, the Russian ship Project 22160 Sergey Kotov sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides," it said. The message added that the ship was worth about $65 million.Andriy Yermak…

Russian energy company Novatek said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack.The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets. It processes stable gas condensate - a type of light oil - into light and heavy naphtha, kerosene and diesel to be shipped by sea.It was not clear how long the disruption would last…

Russia said on Monday that emergency workers had put out a fire on a Soviet-era nuclear-powered cargo-icebreaker ship and the state company which runs the vessel said there had been no casualties and no threat to the security of the reactor.The fire broke out on Sunday in one of the cabins of the Soviet-made Sevmorput ship, which is currently at dock in the northern Russian city of Murmansk, the emergency ministry said.The fire, which at its peak covered an area of about 30 square meters (323 square feet)…

Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.The Russian defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack the Crimean port of Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged.Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had briefed President Vladimir Putin in detail about the attack, the Kremlin said.

Foreign shareholders suspended participation in the Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions, renouncing their responsibilities for financing and for offtake contracts for the new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, the daily Kommersant reported on Monday.The project, seen as a key element in Russia's drive to boost its LNG global market share to 20% by 2030 from 8%, was already facing difficulties due to U.S. sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and a lack of gas carriers.China's state oil majors CNOOC  and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) each have a 10% stake in the project…

Ukraine rained 15 cruise missiles on Russia's shipyard in the Crimean port city of Kerch on Saturday, damaging one ship, Russian defence ministry said, in an attack that could further undermine Moscow's striking capabilities.Thirteen of the missiles were destroyed in the air, while one hit a ship, the Russian defence ministry said in a typically laconic statement when reporting on Ukraine's strikes on Russian territory or infrastructure. It did not give the ship's name.Ukraine's top Air Force commander said the Russian Navy stationed there one of its most modern ships…

Ukrainian officials said Russia struck Ukrainian port infrastructure and grain storage facilities on Tuesday, but also reported some progress on the front lines in the three-month old counteroffensive by its forces.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke of "good details" from the front without further explanation and said Ukraine clearly understood where to apply pressure to make it felt in Moscow."Sanctions are not enough. There will also be more of our own Ukrainian actions against the terrorist state," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

A container ship set off from Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa on Wednesday in a test of Russia's threat to attack shipping after it abandoned a deal last month allowing Ukraine to export grain.The departure of the Hong-Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte, which had been in the port since Feb. 23, 2022 - the day before Russia's invasion - followed a new Russian attack on Ukraine's grain export infrastructure.Russian air strikes damaged grain silos and warehouses at one of the Danube river ports…

Russia is in the process of equipping its new nuclear submarines with hypersonic Zircon missiles, the head of Russia's largest shipbuilder told the RIA state news agency in an interview published on Monday."Multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the Yasen-M project will ...

A Ukrainian sea drone full of explosives struck a Russian fuel tanker near a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea, the second such attack in 24 hours, both sides said on Saturday.No one was hurt, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that the drone with 450 kg of explosives hit the SIG vessel as it transported fuel for the Russian military in Ukrainian territorial waters."The tanker was well loaded with fuel, so the 'fireworks' were seen from afar," the source said…

A fire broke out near a business center and the warehouse of a retail chain was hit in a Russian missile attack overnight on the Black Sea port of Odesa, Ukraine’s officials said early on Wednesday.Air defence forces shot down two missiles over the city, the city’s administration said on its Telegram messaging app.

There is no progress in removing obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports caused by the West's "sanction strategy", a senior Russian diplomat in Washington said on Tuesday, ahead of the expiry of a deal safeguarding Ukrainian grain exports.The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July which allows Ukrainian grain trapped by the conflict to be safely exported from the country's Black Sea ports, is set to expire on May 18.Russia has said that parts of the deal that are meant to allow Moscow to export its own agricultural goods via the Black Sea ports were not being honor

Russia and India are looking at expanding the use of the Northern Sea shipping route that passes through the Arctic and which could include the building of processing facilities, Russia's Interfax agency reported on Wednesday. Alexei Chekunkov, Russia's minister for the development of the Far East and the Arctic, is visiting India and a key issue in his talks with Indian officials was the "reliable and safe" transportation of goods through the Northern Sea Route using Russian and Indian ports, Interfax reported.

Russian navy’s newest nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Generalissimo Suvorov is on its way to a temporary base for the Northern Fleet in the Arctic, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified defence source.“Recently, the submarine cruiser Generalissimo Suvorov has started moving from Severodvinsk, where it was located at the Sevmash shipyard, to a temporary base for the Northern Fleet,” the state agency cited its source as saying.The strategic submarine was officially included into the Russian navy at the end of 2022 by President Vladimir Putin.It is set to ev

Solomon Islands police said on Sunday they had retrieved five bodies in their search for 27 people who were swept off a ferry during a tropical cyclone that is now threatening the nearby South Pacific nation of Vanuatu as category four storm.The MV Taimareho set sail early on Friday in strong winds with 738 passengers including crew and the captain on board. Police said the missing are believed to have fallen off during heavy seas.Cyclone Harold - then a category two storm - crossed just to the south of Solomon Islands early on Friday.

Western allies on Wednesday warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.A New York Times report, citing intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, said on Tuesday a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the blasts that became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.The report…

A China-flagged cargo ship sank in the Strait of Tartary off the coast of Russia's Sakhalin island, the press service of Russia's Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport told TASS on Wednesday, adding there were no casualties."The crew of 21 citizens of the People's Republic of China got onto the ice and was then taken on board of an approaching ship," TASS cited the press service."Everyone is well, there were no casualties."(Reuters - Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Tom Hogue)

A ship sent to load metal and ship it to Russia has entered the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, TASS news agency reported on Saturday, the second vessel to arrive in the southeastern city since Russia completed its capture last month."The ship has arrived and is in the port," TASS cited a port authority representative as saying, adding that it was to be loaded with metal.Earlier last week, a ship left Mariupol for Russia with a cargo of metal. Ukraine said the shipment from the port…

Russian oil producer Rosneft's Vietnamese subsidiary has started drilling an exploration well off the south coast of Vietnam, it said on Wednesday. It is Rosneft's first individual international offshore drilling project as an operator, Russia's largest oil producer said in a statement. After the completion of the PLDD-1X well, at Block 06.1, Rosneft will drill another exploration well in Block 05.3/11, also in the Nam Con Son Basin, in the Vietnamese waters, it said. "I am sure that the experience gained in Vietnam will be used by the company not only in its activity in the southern seas," Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin said in a statement, adding it would help with planning and implementing upstream projects in remote areas.

Russia said on Monday it had started planned tactical exercises in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea to test the ability of the Navy to act in crisis situations of a terrorist nature. A naval strike group would carry out live-fire exercises according to a scenario that was "as close as possible" to a real attack, the ministry said in a statement on its website. Reporting by Lidia Kelly

The Novatek-led Yamal LNG project in Russia received financing in July worth about 780 million euros from China Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of China, according to Yamal's accounting report published on Tuesday. The 15-year loan deals, of 9.3 billion euros and 9.8 billion yuan ($1.48 billion), were signed by the two Chinese financial institutions in late April. The latest disbursement follows the first chunk of 450 million euros Yamal received in late July. Before receiving the financing from the Chinese banks…

Russia plans to fully halt exports of oil products from other than Russian ports on the Baltic Sea by 2018, the head of oil pipeline monopoly Nikolai Tokarev told President Vladimir Putin on Monday.   Russia will increase the shipments via its own ports instead, Tokarev said, according to a transcript of the meeting published on the Kremlin website.   Russia has been gradually cutting oil and oil products exports via foreign ports on the Baltic Sea, such as Latvia's Ventspils as it has built its own shipments facilities in the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Lidia Kelly)