Finance
Russia blames Ukrainian drones for attack on LNG ship in mediterranean
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 4, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 4, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 4, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 4, 2026
Russia alleges that Ukrainian naval drones launched from Libya attacked and set fire to the Russian LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz near Malta on March 3. The crew of 30 were safely rescued; Ukraine has not commented, and Russia condemns the incident as maritime terrorism.
MOSCOW, March 4 (Reuters) - Russia's transport ministry on Wednesday accused Ukrainian naval drones of attacking a Russian liquefied natural gas carrier, the Arctic Metagaz, which caught fire in the Mediterranean a day earlier.
If confirmed, it would be the first time that Ukraine has attacked a Russian LNG carrier.
The Security Service of Ukraine did not respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine has frequently targeted Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure in an attempt to deprive Russia's war machine of funding.
The incident adds to the uncertainty on the global markets, already rattled by war in Iran.
Russia's transport ministry said all 30 crew members, who were Russian nationals, were safe.
"We qualify what happened as an act of international terrorism and maritime piracy, a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international maritime law," the ministry said in a statement.
It said the vessel, which had been carrying a cargo from the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk, was attacked near international waters belonging to Malta and thanked Maltese rescue services.
Ukrainian naval drones had launched their attack from the coast of Libya, the ministry said.
Libya's National Oil Corporation said it had no involvement with the LNG carrier, adding that it was on a journey from Murmansk in Russia towards Port Said in Egypt.
The vessel's Russia-based manager LLC SMP Techmanagement and Russia's largest LNG producer Novatek have not yet commented on the incident.
(Reporting by Filipp Lebedev and Vladimir Soldatkin; additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Bernadette Baum and Jan Harvey)
The Russian LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz caught fire after allegedly being attacked by Ukrainian naval drones near Malta.
No casualties were reported as all 30 crew members, who were Russian nationals, were declared safe.
Russia's transport ministry accused Ukrainian naval drones of attacking the Arctic Metagaz.
If confirmed, this would be the first time Ukraine has targeted a Russian LNG carrier.
The attack occurred near international waters belonging to Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.
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