President Putin Threatens To Break Ukraine's Access To The Black Sea Following Drone Attacks On Russian Tankers

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, following a drone strike on Russia's "shadow armada" tanker.

Ukrainian security officials on Saturday said Ukrainian Navy drones attacked two tankers sanctioned in the Black Sea as they headed for Russian ports to load oil aimed at overseas markets.

On Tuesday, a Russian-flagged tanker loaded with solar flower oil reported a drone strike off Turkey's coast, but its 13 crew members were not injured, according to Turkish maritime authorities and shipping agency Tribeca.

Ukraine says it has nothing to do with the incident.

"The most radical solution is to break Ukraine from the sea, so piracy is in principle impossible," President Putin said in a televised address, quoted by Daily Sabah (2/12).

President Putin said Russia would intensify attacks on Ukrainian facilities and ships, and would take action against tankers from countries that help Ukraine.

Prior to the latest attack, Ukraine had also carried out missile and drone attacks on Russia's Black Sea port, Novorossiysk, which had disrupted oil shipments.

However, President Putin did not specify his threat to cut off Ukrainian maritime access.

Russia alone has seized large parts of Ukraine's southern and eastern regions in the war that began in February 2022, but Ukraine is still in tight control of major ports, includingOS.