Drones strike Greek cargo ship and vessel that came to its aid near Novorossiysk

On Monday evening, roughly 20 nautical miles off the Russian port of Novorossiysk, drones struck the Greek-flagged vessel ANNA S, owned by Neptune Tradebulk. The crew — 20 Filipino sailors and a Romanian captain — was forced to abandon ship.

Another vessel, the Elina B, headed out to assist the stricken ship. According to the Greek outlet Proto Thema, that ship came under attack as well roughly five hours into the rescue operation, when it was hit by two drones.

Per the report, one of the drones circled the vessel for a long time before striking — as if laying siege to it. Available information suggests the drones targeted the crew's living quarters rather than the cargo holds.

The ANNA S sustained severe damage and was nearly destroyed, though it remains unclear whether the ship is still afloat or has already sunk. According to the outlet, the cargo vessel was heading to Novorossiysk empty, where it was due to load grain and "energy products."

Washington had asked for strikes on tankers to stop

Last week it emerged that US Vice President JD Vance approached Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late July, asking that Ukraine's military halt strikes on oil tankers at Novorossiysk. The request stemmed from Washington's concern that such attacks were destabilizing oil markets and harming American interests — tankers carrying Kazakh oil to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal had also been hit in the strikes.

According to the Financial Times, Kyiv halted these strikes immediately. However, the newspaper notes, the agreement does not cover sanctioned vessels or those not carrying Russian oil or other Russian cargo.

"We are listening very closely to our American partners," one Ukrainian official said.

Source: novinky.cz