The ministry said it held a meeting to address the incident off the Black Sea coast; independent reports confirm a vessel fire but not its cause.
Russia’s transport minister convened a response headquarters meeting over the incident involving the Aframax Rio tanker off the Black Sea coast, the ministry’s press service told RIA Novosti. The ministry described the incident as an attack.
The Insider, citing local officials and vessel-tracking data, reported that a Liberian-flagged tanker identified as Aframax Rio caught fire near Sochi. The outlet said the cause of the fire and whether the vessel was carrying oil had not been officially confirmed. The report of the response meeting does not establish the circumstances of the incident.