Russia claims Ukraine attacked foreign-flagged tankers near Caspian pipeline terminal in Novorossiysk

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine on Thursday of carrying out another drone attack on oil tankers near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) marine terminal in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

In a statement on Telegram, Zakharova urged the US and the UN to condemn attacks on civilian energy infrastructure.

She emphasized that Ukrainian drones targeted tankers sailing under foreign flags with international crews during the night.

The vessels were chartered by foreign suppliers, according to the CPC.

Zakharova said cargo included oil shipments from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field handled by Tengizchevroil — a joint venture in which US oil company, Chevron, holds a stake.

“Only by sheer luck was no one injured. The resulting fires have been extinguished. An oil spill was prevented. At the same time, the CPC was once again forced to suspend oil loading,” she said.

Zakharova accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of authorizing attacks on international energy infrastructure while publicly calling for a ceasefire and negotiations.

She said the attacks were harming the economic interests of Kazakhstan and the US, and urged Washington to use its influence on Kyiv.

“We expect the US authorities, which have influence over Kyiv, to finally give an appropriate assessment of Zelenskyy’s hypocritical policy and rein him in,” she said.

Zakharova also urged the UN and other international organizations to respond, saying failure to do so would amount to encouraging additional attacks.

The statement follows reports from the CPC that loading operations at the Novorossiysk terminal were suspended after what the company said was a Ukrainian drone attack on vessels near the facility.