Ukraine claims to have hit Russian offshore gas network

Maritime Activity Reports, Inc.

The Navy spokesman said on Saturday that Ukrainian military intelligence and the navy had damaged an offshore gas platform once used by Russian forces.

The inmates used this location to manipulate GPS systems, thus compromising navigation for civilians. Dmytro Pltenchuk wrote on Facebook that we cannot allow such a thing.

He released a nighttime video showing the explosion and fire on a platform off the coast, claiming that Russian forces had deployed equipment and military personnel on the platform half a day before the attack.

There were no civilians there. Pletenchuk stated that the platform was not functioning normally.

He did not provide any further details.

The information could not be independently verified. A response from Moscow is still pending.

Following the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2001, Ukraine lost control of numerous offshore gas and oil platforms. Some of these platforms, Ukraine claims, were used by Russian forces for military purposes.

Ukraine succeeded in driving the Russian Navy out of the western Black Sea using sea drones, allowing Kyiv to establish a key maritime transit route that transported 60 million tons of cargo last year. (Reporting and editing by Alex Richardson; reporting by Pavel Polityuk)

(Source: Reuters)