Putin accuses Ukraine of attacking gas tanker that exploded and sank off Libya

Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of carrying out a terrorist attack on one of Russia’s liquefied natural gas carriers which exploded into flames and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya.The Arctic Metagaz had been sanctioned by the US and EU for being part of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of ageing tankers that carry its oil and gas around the world, skirting Western restrictions.The Libyan Maritime Authority reported “sudden explosions, followed by a massive fire” on the ship on Tuesday, when it was about 150 miles (240km) off the city of Sirte.The tanker, which had been carrying 61,000 tons 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.“This is a terrorist attack. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of thing,” Putin told Russian state television late on Wednesday, accusing Ukraine of being responsible.He said the incident was an attack that “exacerbates the situation on global energy markets, including gas markets”.Russia’s transport ministry had earlier said the vessel had been hit by Ukrainian sea drones launched from the Libyan coast, but provided no details.Ukraine has not commented on the incident, but said in December that it had hit a Russian tanker in the Mediterranean with aerial drones in the first such strike to be confirmed in the four-year war.Previous Ukrainian attacks on Russian ships in the Mediterranean have reportedly come from the Libyan coast, but Kyiv has not publicly confirmed them.Ukraine’s military has said in the past that it used sea drones to sink Russian vessels in the Black Sea.Ukraine’s state security service unveiled an upgraded sea drone called the Sea Baby in October, which it said had a range of 930 miles and could carry a weapon of up to two tonnes.Ukrainian Sea Baby drones. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/APThe Metagaz had sailed from the north-western Russian city of Murmansk on the Barents Sea and was bound for Port Said in Egypt, the Libyan Maritime Authority said. Its last reported position was in the western Mediterranean off the coast of Malta, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking platform.Putin also suggested on Wednesday that Russia could stop supplying gas to Europe and move to other markets.The European Commission will submit a legal proposal to permanently ban Russian oil imports on 15 April, three days after Hungary’s parliamentary election, according to EU officials and a document seen by Reuters.“And now other markets are opening up,” Putin said. “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.“But 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.”