Moscow: Russian media reported early on Saturday that a Russian tanker was struck by Ukrainian drones in the Kerch Strait, briefly halting traffic on the vital bridge connecting Crimea to Russia.

According to the Maritime Rescue Centre and the state-run TASS news agency, the tanker was damaged in the attack, and two tugboats had already arrived at the scene.

The ship, which had 11 people on board, had no fuel spills according to russian state media report. The chemical tanker SIG, which is the subject of US sanctions for providing jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria supporting President Bashar Assad, was identified by The Moscow Times as the ship.

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According to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian official stationed in the Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine, several members of the ship's crew suffered glass injuries as a result of the attack.

According to Rogov's Telegram post, "the detonation due to the explosion on the ship was visible from the peninsula and the locals thought it was an explosion in the area of Yakovenkovo settlement not far from the Crimean bridge."

According to the highways information center's Telegram channel, traffic on the bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow has annexed, was suspended for about three hours before starting up again early on Saturday.

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The SIG was seen stationary and being attended by tugs just south of the strait, according to the Marine Traffic vessel tracking website. A day prior to the most recent attack in the Black Sea, Ukraine claimed to have used a sea-based drone to attack a Russian navy ship at the Novorossiysk naval base in southern Russia.

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Russia claimed on Friday that it had successfully repelled a Ukrainian military attempt to attack the base "with the use of two unmanned sea boats." Since Moscow pulled out of a deal last month that had permitted Ukrainian grain exports via the shipping hub during the conflict between the two countries, there have been more attacks in the Black Sea by both sides.