Vladimir Putin has charged Ukraine with carrying out a terrorist strike on a Russian liquefied natural gas carrier that burst into flames and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya.
The vessel, Arctic Metagaz, had been placed under U.S. and EU sanctions for belonging to Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of older tankers that transport oil and gas worldwide while evading Western limits.
The Libyan Maritime Authority said the ship experienced “sudden explosions, followed by a massive fire” on Tuesday, when it was roughly 150 miles (240 km) from the city of Sirte.
Carrying 61,000 tonnes of LNG, the tanker “completely sank” between Libya and Malta, the authority added. All 30 crew members were rescued and transferred to another ship bound for the Libyan port of Benghazi.
“This is a terrorist attack. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of thing,” Putin told Russian state television late on Wednesday, blaming Ukraine.
He described the incident as an assault that “worsens the situation on global energy markets, including gas markets.”
Russia’s transport ministry earlier claimed the ship had been struck by Ukrainian sea drones launched from the Libyan coast, but offered no further details.
Ukraine has not responded to the allegation, though in December it announced that it had hit a Russian tanker in the Mediterranean with aerial drones – the first confirmed strike of that type in the four‑year conflict.
Earlier Ukrainian attacks on Russian vessels in the Mediterranean have reportedly originated from the Libyan shoreline, but Kyiv has not publicly verified them.
The Ukrainian military has previously said it employed sea drones to sink Russian ships in the Black Sea.
In October, Ukraine’s state security service unveiled an upgraded sea drone, the Sea Baby, which it said could travel 930 miles and carry a payload of up to two tonnes.
The Metagaz had departed the north‑western Russian city of Murmansk on the Barents Sea, heading for Port Said in Egypt, according to the Libyan Maritime Authority. Its last known position was in the western Mediterranean off Malta, as shown by MarineTraffic, a ship‑tracking service.
Putin also hinted on Wednesday that Russia might cease gas deliveries to Europe and turn to other markets.
The European Commission plans to present a legal proposal to permanently ban Russian oil imports on 15 April, three days after Hungary’s parliamentary election, EU officials said, citing a document seen by Reuters.
“And now other markets are opening up,” Putin said. “Perhaps it would be more profitable for us to stop supplying the European market now and shift to those emerging markets and establish a presence there.
“But this is not a decision, it is, in this case, what is called thinking out loud. I will certainly instruct the government to work on this issue together with our companies.”
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