Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Putin blames Kyiv for attacking gasoline tanker that exploded off Libya

A Russian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied natural gas exploded and erupted in flames before sinking in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, authorities in the North African country said Wednesday. Russia claimed that an attack by Ukrainian sea drones was to blame.

The Libyan Maritime Authority reported “sudden explosions, followed by a massive fire” on the Arctic Metagaz on Tuesday, when it was about 240km (150 miles) off the city of Sirte.

The tanker, carrying 61,000 tonnes of LNG, “completely sank” between Libya and Malta, a statement said. All 30 crew members were rescued and put on another vessel heading to the Libyan city of Benghazi, it said.

Russia’s transport ministry said the vessel was hit by Ukrainian sea drones launched from the Libyan coast. Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday evening called what happened to the tanker “a terrorist attack” that “exacerbates the situation on global energy markets, including gas markets”.

Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the accusation.

Previous Ukrainian attacks on Russian ships have reportedly come from the Libyan coast, though Kyiv officials haven’t publicly confirmed those reports.

Russia could halt gas supplies to Europe right now amid a spike ‌in energy prices triggered by the Iran crisis, Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday.

The Russian president was linking the possible decision to the European Union wanting to ban purchases of Russian gas and liquefied natural gas.

Oil and gas prices have soared following the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s strikes on Gulf Arab neighbours. The conflict has paralysed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz ​and forced the shutdown of Qatar’s LNG production and Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery.

Putin said oil prices were rising due to the “aggression against Iran” and due ​to Western restrictions on Russian oil, while European gas prices were rising because customers were willing to buy gas volumes at higher prices ⁠due to events in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Asked by a Russian state television correspondent ​about European plans to completely ban Russian pipeline gas imports by late 2027 as well as new short-term Russian LNG contracts from ​late April 2026, Putin said it might be more beneficial for Russia to stop selling the gas right now.

“Now other markets are opening up. And perhaps it would be more profitable for us to stop supplying the European market right now. To move into those markets that are opening up and establish ourselves there,” Putin said, according to ​a transcript released by the Kremlin.

“This is not a decision, it is, in this case, what is called thinking out loud. I will definitely instruct ​the government to work on this issue together with our companies,” Putin said, linking the possible decision directly to Europe’s “misguided policies”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the Middle East conflict on Wednesday with the king of Bahrain and the crown prince of Kuwait.

Zelensky said that his administration was in daily contact with the US and once the security situation around Iran permitted it, trilateral talks with Moscow and Washington on a settlement of the war with Moscow would resume.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky said talks about Iran included leaders of Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Ukraine’s partners, including the US, had sought Kyiv’s help in defending against Iranian drones, like those used by Russia in the four-year-old war with Ukraine.

“Partners are turning to us, to Ukraine, asking for help in defending against shaheds. There have also been requests from the American side,” he said.

Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets didn’t have enough missiles to shoot down Russian drones and missiles for more than three weeks after supplies from Kyiv’s partners dried up just as Moscow was preparing a massive winter air campaign, three sources told Reuters.

The acute shortage from late November to mid-December, which has not been previously reported, lays bare the vulnerability of Ukraine’s air defences which ​rely heavily on Western allies for missiles and defence systems to repel frequent Russian strikes.

The three sources, all with direct knowledge of the situation, said Ukraine only had a handful of US-made AIM-9 “Sidewinder” air-to-air missiles for its entire squadron of F-16s when supplies stopped.

Despite Ukraine’s vocal lobbying, concrete examples of how shortages affect its defence capabilities are normally kept secret. In this case, one of the sources told Reuters that Ukraine had nothing to put on its jets for almost a month.

All three sources asked not ​to be named to describe sensitive battlefield vulnerabilities caused by interruptions to weapons flows.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have survived the worst of a bitter winter without heating, electricity and running water as a result of an intensifying Russian onslaught on the energy system that Ukraine has been unable to ​completely repel.

Ukrainian drones damaged civilian sites in southern ⁠Russia’s Saratov region and injured three people, regional ⁠governor ​Roman ⁠Busgarin said early ⁠on Thursday.

Busgarin gave ​no ⁠further details, ‌but said emergency crews were ‌at the site ‌of the attack.

Civil ⁠aviation authority Rosaviatsia said Saratov airport was one of several in central and southern Russia closed to flights late on Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he has ordered Ukraine’s government to develop options to support Gulf countries facing Iranian drone and missile attacks.

“Our military has the necessary capabilities,” Zelensky said. “Ukrainian experts will work on site, and teams are already negotiating this. We are ready to help protect lives, protect civilians,” he said.

Zelensky added that he spoke with leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, and Bahrain, and is preparing talks with Kuwait’s leadership.

“All of them face a serious threat, and they speak about it openly: Iranian attack drones. The same ‘Shaheds’ that strike our cities and villages, our Ukrainian infrastructure,” he said.

“I have tasked our teams to present ways to support these countries and provide assistance in a manner that does not compromise our own defense here in Ukraine,” Zelensky added.

President ​Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s partners, including the United States, ⁠had sought Kyiv’s help in defending against Iranian drones.

“Partners are ⁠turning to ​us, ⁠to Ukraine, asking for help ⁠in defending against (Iranian-designed) Shahed ​drones, ⁠with expertise and real ‌operational experience,” the Ukrainian leader said.

“There have also been requests from the American side.”

Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials had previously suggested that Kyiv could share expertise with Middle East countries if they could help persuade Russia to observe a ceasefire in the four-year-old war pitting Kyiv against Moscow.

The Russian army has experienced its slowest advance on the war frontline in almost two years, according to analysis from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Ukrainian forces achieved several localised breakthroughs, particularly along the southern frontline and by pushing back Russian troops in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Despite the slowdown, Moscow continues to advance in the east, moving closer to the key hubs of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and currently occupies over 19 per cent of Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian troops made significant territorial gains during February, including 61 square kilometres on 15 February and more than 50 square kilometres on both 21 February and 23 February.

These Ukrainian advances coincided with a slowdown in Russian troop movements at the frontline, which occurred after Elon Musk reportedly cut Starlink access for Moscow’s forces.