Drone strikes Turkish tanker in Ukraine’s Odesa, where US natural gas will go

A drone attack struck a Turkish-flagged tanker in Ukraine’s southern port region on Monday, igniting a fire that forced the evacuation of all 16 crew members, according to Turkish maritime authorities. The incident occurred just one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy secured a crucial deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through the area.

The MT Orinda was offloading liquefied petroleum gas at Izmail port when it was hit, Turkey’s Directorate for Maritime Affairs confirmed. While no crew members were injured in the attack, the vessel caught fire, adding to the growing list of maritime targets in Ukraine’s vital Black Sea ports.

Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, reported that Russian drones targeted the region overnight, damaging energy infrastructure and port facilities across several cities. The assault triggered multiple fires and damaged an undisclosed number of civilian vessels, with one person reported injured.

The attack highlights Russia’s persistent campaign against Odesa’s ports, which serve as critical hubs for Ukrainian imports and exports. Located on a Black Sea estuary, Izmail is part of a network of ports essential to Ukraine’s economic survival amid the ongoing conflict.

The timing of the attack is particularly significant as it follows President Zelenskyy’s recent efforts to secure energy supplies for the approaching winter. During an official visit to Greece on Sunday, Zelenskyy finalized an agreement for U.S. liquefied natural gas to flow to Odesa via pipelines from the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis beginning in January.

The strategic importance of these energy arrangements cannot be overstated as Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, creating urgent concerns about civilian access to heating and electricity during the cold months ahead.

Romanian authorities responded to the tanker attack by ordering the evacuation of people and animals from two villages near the Romanian-Ukrainian border, citing the hazardous nature of the tanker’s cargo as the reason for these precautionary measures.

The violence extended beyond the port region, with Russian missiles killing three people and injuring eleven others in Balakliya in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region overnight. Among the injured were four girls aged 12 to 17, according to local authorities.

In a separate daylight attack on Monday, Russian drones and artillery struck Nikopol in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, killing two people and injuring two others. Vladyslav Haivanenko, head of the regional military administration, reported damage to high-rise apartment buildings, stores, and a hair salon.

The overnight assault was part of a larger barrage that included two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 128 strike and decoy drones launched across Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force. The United Nations has documented more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilian deaths since Russia’s full-scale invasion began nearly four years ago.

As Ukraine attempts to retaliate against Russia’s power grid, Russian defenses reportedly shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight. In Russia’s Ulyanovsk region, a Ukrainian drone attack damaged an electricity substation, though Governor Aleksey Russkikh stated that no casualties occurred and local power supplies continued to function normally.

The escalating attacks on civilian infrastructure and energy facilities on both sides underscore the expanding scope of the conflict as it approaches its fourth year with no resolution in sight. The targeting of maritime vessels involved in energy transport adds another dimension to the war’s impact on regional stability and global energy security.