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Russian Tanker Hit by Sea Drone Near Crimea Bridge

A man and his son drive a model of a Russian WWII tank at the Reserve of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol museum, in Sevastopol, Crimea, 24 July 2023 (issued 31 July 2023). EPA/STRINGER
A man and his son drive a model of a Russian WWII tank at the Reserve of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol museum, in Sevastopol, Crimea, 24 July 2023 (issued 31 July 2023). EPA/STRINGER
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Russian Tanker Hit by Sea Drone Near Crimea Bridge

A man and his son drive a model of a Russian WWII tank at the Reserve of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol museum, in Sevastopol, Crimea, 24 July 2023 (issued 31 July 2023). EPA/STRINGER
A man and his son drive a model of a Russian WWII tank at the Reserve of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol museum, in Sevastopol, Crimea, 24 July 2023 (issued 31 July 2023). EPA/STRINGER

A sea drone attack damaged a Russian tanker near the strategic bridge linking Russia to the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Russian authorities said on Saturday.
Russian media said the SIG vessel, approaching the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, was hit by Ukrainian drones. Ukraine's Interfax agency, citing an unnamed Ukrainian security service source, also said Ukraine's navy was behind the attack with drones in its territorial waters.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
No one was hurt, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Kyiv seldom claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but has said that destroying Russia's military infrastructure boosts its counteroffensive chances in the 17-month-old war.
A drone attack on Russia's navy base at Novorossiysk damaged a Russian warship on Friday, the first time the Ukrainian navy has projected its power so far from its shores.
The SIG had been supplying oil to Russian troops in Syria, according to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in Ukraine's southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia.
The United States sanctioned the tanker and its owner, St. Petersburg-based Transpetrochart, in 2019 for helping provide jet fuel in Syria.

Rogov posted on Telegram an audio clip in which the SIG requested a tow from tugboats. He also posted pictures of what he described as shattered fixtures and equipment inside the vessel.
"The SIG tanker... received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack," Russia's Federal Marine and River Transport agency said in a statement on Telegram.
Russia's Novorossiysk Maritime Rescue Coordination Center was cited by the RIA news agency as saying that water had stopped pouring into the SIG and that recovery work was underway with two tugboats nearby.
There was no fuel spill, it added, as the ship had been carrying only technical ballast.
The Moscow-installed authorities in Crimea said the bridge, which was completed by Russia in 2018 and has come under serious attack twice in the war, was not targeted.
Ukraine's UNIAN news agency said three explosions had been reported in the area. There was no immediate comment on the incident from Ukraine's government.

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Russia Removes Afghan Taliban from List of Banned Terrorist Groups

Russia's Supreme Court judge Oleg Nefyodov delivers a verdict lifting a ban on Afghanistan's Taliban, who were designated as a terrorist group more than two decades ago, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
Russia's Supreme Court judge Oleg Nefyodov delivers a verdict lifting a ban on Afghanistan's Taliban, who were designated as a terrorist group more than two decades ago, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
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Russia Removes Afghan Taliban from List of Banned Terrorist Groups

Russia's Supreme Court judge Oleg Nefyodov delivers a verdict lifting a ban on Afghanistan's Taliban, who were designated as a terrorist group more than two decades ago, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
Russia's Supreme Court judge Oleg Nefyodov delivers a verdict lifting a ban on Afghanistan's Taliban, who were designated as a terrorist group more than two decades ago, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)

Russia on Thursday suspended its ban on the Taliban, which it had designated for more than two decades as a terrorist organization, in a move that paves the way for Moscow to normalize ties with the leadership of Afghanistan.

No country currently recognizes the Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. But Russia has been gradually building relations with the movement, which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in fighting terrorism.

The Taliban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003. State media said the Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the ban with immediate effect.

Russia sees a need to work with the Taliban as it faces a major security threat from extremist militant groups based in a string of countries from Afghanistan to the Middle East.

"Russia aims to build mutually beneficial ties with Afghanistan in all areas, including the fight against drugs and terrorism," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It added that Moscow was grateful to Afghanistan for military operations against the local branch of ISIS.

Moscow also aims to strengthen trade, business and investment ties with Kabul, leveraging Afghanistan's strategic position for future energy and infrastructure projects, the ministry statement said.

In March 2024, gunmen killed 145 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in an attack claimed by ISIS. US officials said they had intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch of the group, ISIS Khorasan (ISIS-K), that was responsible.

The Taliban says it is working to wipe out the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan.

Western diplomats say the Taliban's path towards wider international recognition is blocked until it changes course on women's rights. The Taliban has closed high schools and universities to girls and women and placed restrictions on their movement without a male guardian.