Black Sea tanker attack off Russia's Olympic city sparks 'fire of oil'

A gigantic "fire of oil" was ignited in the Black Sea after an attack on a Liberian-flagged tanker off the coast of Russia's Olympic city of Sochi, the Kremlin's transport ministry has announced.

The ministry said the Aframax Rio was set alight after coming under fire from "unmanned boats" on Tuesday evening, local time.

"The crew of 23 people (all Indian citizens) was rescued, and preliminary information indicates there are no casualties," a ministry post on Telegram said.

Videos and photos that were circulated widely on social media from Sochi, a popular resort city of almost 500,000 people, showed bright orange flames out at sea and a thick column of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Russian emergency services were expected to try to extinguish the blaze once it became less intense, the ministry said.

Russian regional authorities in the settlement of Sirius had earlier reported the fire aboard the tanker.

Beaches in the settlement in Russia's south Krasnodar region were also closed to the public, the authorities said.

It remains unclear whether Ukrainian forces were responsible for launching the attack on the vessel.

Both nations 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.

Ukraine says its attacks on Russian oil infrastructure are fair retribution for Moscow's nightly barrages of its towns and cities.

Both sides have vowed to escalate strikes in recent weeks.

Russia has also begun pummelling key bridges in Kyiv and striking the heart of the capital with daytime drone attacks, a new tactic that has plunged the city into gridlock.

Previous Ukrainian attacks on oil sites in southern Russia have resulted in oil slicks forming, beaches being closed and toxic black rain falling from the skies.

Ukraine launches almost 900 drones in night-time barrage

Russian authorities also reported that almost 900 Ukrainian drones were intercepted by air defence systems in multiple regions, including the occupied Crimean Peninsula and the Sea of Azov throughout the night.

Unconfirmed media reports said a major fuel depot in the Moscow region had been ignited after the attack killed two people.

Ukraine's domestically developed long-range drones and missiles have allowed Kyiv to increasingly hit Russian soil, including targets located as far east as the Urals and Siberia.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 650 drones flew toward the capital region between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Most were destroyed far away, and 105 were downed as they approached the city, he said.

Mr Sobyanin later reported 68 more drones targeting Moscow were downed during daylight on Tuesday morning.

Ukrainian officials said they were now bracing for what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned was an upcoming "massive" aerial attack by Russia.

"Today, we received updated intelligence on Russia's preparations for a massive strike. We are preparing countermeasures," Mr Zelenskyy said on social media on Tuesday.

After several days of targeting bridges in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Russia attacked one of the bridges over the Dnipro River in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukrainian regional military administration chief Mykhailo Semikin.

A night-time Russian attack on a Zaporizhzhia residential building injured five people and a daylight strike on a warehouse in the city caused a large fire, Mr Semikin said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces also struck targets in Ukraine's southern Odesa region on the Black Sea coast with drones overnight.

An ammunition depot was hit, as were a bulk carrier in the Chornomorsk port carrying dual-use goods and port infrastructure in Izmail, the ministry said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said last week Kyiv estimated Russia is holding 600 ballistic missiles in reserve and can produce up to 140 ballistic missiles per month.

Without ammunition for its US-made Patriot air defence systems, which is in short supply, Ukraine is at the mercy of Russia's ballistic weapons.