Russia's Transport Ministry says the tanker was hit by an uncrewed naval vessel, and that crude oil is now burning openly in the water. All 23 crew, all Indian nationals, have been rescued. Firefighters couldn't get near the blaze because it was too intense.
No one has said if the fire is out. Ukraine hasn't said whether it carried out the strike.
That's everything we know.
Why this mattersThis isn't just any tanker.
Ukraine sanctioned the Aframax Rio back in February, along with around 90 other ships. The reason? Suspicion it was helping Russia dodge oil sanctions.
Two monitoring groups, BlackSeaNews and the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies, say the ship has been moving Russian oil out of Russian ports. That's what Russia's so-called shadow fleet does — ships that carry sanctioned oil while hiding who owns them and who insures them.
So this fits a pattern.
Ukraine has spent months going after Russia's oil infrastructure and the ships that carry it. Kyiv says it's fair payback for Russia's nightly bombing of Ukrainian towns and cities.
A Sochi port and an oil depot were hit in drone strikes last month. Russia is hitting ships too. It struck grain vessels bound for Ukraine near Romania in recent days. And on the same day as this fire, a Russian strike on a different merchant ship in the Black Sea killed at least one crew member.
Here's why the location matters. Sochi sits roughly 650 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, deep inside Russia. A strike this far from the front line, this close to a Russian resort city, shows how far Ukraine's drone campaign now reaches.
Sochi's mayor has temporarily blocked access to the waterfront and beaches and told residents and tourists to stay away. Dmitry Plishkin, who runs the nearby Sirius territory, says air pollution is still within normal limits. But nobody has said how much oil has spilled into the sea. Past Ukrainian strikes on oil sites in southern Russia have caused oil slicks, beach closures and what residents called black rain.
No outlet has reported Ukraine taking responsibility. Russia hasn't named Ukraine directly in its statement. But calling it an attack by an uncrewed naval vessel doesn't leave much room for another explanation. Ukraine has used sea drones against Russian warships and tankers throughout the war, including in the Black Sea.
So three things are still open. Whether the fire is out. How much oil has spilled. And whether Ukraine ever says, on the record, that it did this.
