Ukrainian Long-Range Attack Kills Two Crew and Damages Tanker in Rostov

Ukraine is continuing its long-range offensive strikes on the Russian oil and energy sector. Overnight, they carried out another daring attack on the port of Rostov-on-Don, striking an oil tanker that was alongside the targeted terminal.

Russian government officials for the region are reporting that there was a large fire aboard the river vessel that was later extinguished. They are saying that two crewmembers were killed and three others injured in the attack. It was a part of a series of long-range attacks on Russia.

British risk management company Vanguard is identifying the vessel as the Russian-flagged tanker Valeriy Gorchakov. The vessel is managed by Volgo-Balt Service to transport various fuel and oil products. The Ukrainian open source media outlet Exilenova + posted on X that the vessel was built in 1969 to carry dry cargo. It was converted in 2004 to work as an oil tanker. It is reported to be 139 meters (456 feet) in length and approximately 5,000 dwt.

Rostov-on-Don is more than 20 miles inland from the Sea of Azov on the Don River. It follows similar long-range drone attacks on the Caspian Sea by Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Command of the Special Operations Forces acknowledged the strike, saying its forces had conducted a drone strike on the Nikolaevskaya oil base in the Rostov region of Russia. It said the oil base is used for the storage and transport of petroleum products to support the logistics of army units in Crimea and adjacent occupied territories. They claimed to have damaged the reservoir and a river watercraft.

The Special Operations Forces also said its Deep Strike Special Operations Forces units, along with other military units, had struck a Slovenian oil refinery, located in the city of Sloviansk-on-Kuban, Krasnodar region of Russia. The refinery, it said, is providing fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine.

Russian officials claimed that Ukraine had launched a large drone offense that also struck an apartment building in the center of Rostov as well as strikes on the city of Bataysk, about 10 miles south of Rostov.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed that it intercepted and destroyed a total of 47 Ukrainian “aircraft-type” drones, including 31 in the Bryansk region, five over the Black Sea, and three around Rostov.

Among the retaliatory strikes, Ukraine reported that eight people were injured by a Russian strike on Odesa. Ukraine claimed to have destroyed 63 out of the 82 Russian drones launched overnight.

Top photo of Rostov-on-Don by Vyacheslav Argenberg (CC BY 4.0)