three questions about Russian accusations after strikes against gas drilling platforms in the Black Sea

The fire is still ravaging a Russian gas exploitation platform in the Black Sea, Tuesday, June 21. The situation remains delicate because the flames are now approaching the extraction shaft, says the Interfax agency (in Russian) a senator from the annexed territory, Olga Kovitidi. This fire, visible by satellite tools, is difficult to circumscribe. The rescue ships have all the difficulty in the world to approach this platform operated by the group Chernomorneftegaz. Franceinfo takes stock of this attack which could have serious consequences.

1What are the damages?

Shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday, the BK-1 and Crimea-1 gas production platforms were hit by anti-ship missiles and Bayraktar TB-2 drones, the Russian Defense Ministry claims (in Russian), and a violent fire broke out on the first installation. After a long silence, the Ukrainian command finally announced that it had targeted “military facilities”, Tuesday evening, which therefore represents the first case of a Ukrainian strike against an offshore hydrocarbon infrastructure. Moscow, for its part, believes that this attack raises “the threat of an ecological catastrophe” in the sector, even if no data is yet available on the volumes concerned.

Crimea-1 still appears on the Marine Traffic geolocation site and it did not suffer too severe damage, according to MP Olga Kovitidi. A total of 109 people were in the gas complex on Monday, including 12 on the hardest hit platform. Three people have been hospitalized, according to a tally by local authorities, and seven are still missing.

A vast rescue operation has therefore been launched by the Ministry of Defense, said Sergei Axionov, installed at the head of Crimea by Russia in 2014. These will continue “as long as weather conditions permit and there is hope of finding people alive”he commented (in Russian).

2What do we know about the gas company?

The Chernomorneftegaz company operates several gas and oil deposits in the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the new Russian authorities nationalized the assets of this company, which was previously a subsidiary of the Ukrainian public operator Naftogaz. The group had been placed under US sanctions for “having been complicit in the misappropriation of Ukrainian state assets“.

In 2020, the Ukrainian Sea Guard once again denounced the confiscation of these platforms by the pro-Russian authorities, after having sailed in the immediate vicinity of Crimea-1. She then mentioned (in English) “signs of continued industrial activity, with flags raised of the aggressor country” and the presence of a Russian patrol boat. Ukraine, on the other hand, suspects (in Ukrainian) Russia has long wanted to transform these platforms into military bases with maritime surveillance missions. This is why kyiv now claims to have targeted non-civilian facilities.

3What is the situation in the sector?

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian army had previously tried to retake Serpents’ Island, located 55 km further west and occupied since the first days of the war. It is after having “to have understood his failure” that she would have “launched on a new adventure” by targeting Russian infrastructure in the Black Sea, according to Moscow. The Serpents’ Island sector is still fiercely disputed: in early May, Ukraine claimed to have bombed two Russian Raptor-class patrol boats with Bayraktar TB2 combat drones. She also claimed a strike against a Russian landing ship, still near the small island.

The Russian army reacted strongly against these strikes, described as “provocation”. Furious, Crimean MP Mikhail Sheremet promised retaliatory strikes in Ukraine on Monday. These didn’t take long. The Russian army says it destroyed weapons hangars at the Chkolny military airfield near Odessa using Onyx cruise missiles.

Russian justice also announced the opening of a criminal investigation. For his part, Sergei Axionov has promised to compensate the families of the missing persons up to 6.5 million rubles (3 million for the injured). Operation has been interrupted pending the start of work for a hypothetical restoration, suspended to the future decision of the Russian Ministry of Defense.