Moscow said on Tuesday it had destroyed a Ukrainian military "reconnaissance boat" near Russian gas infrastructure in the Black Sea, in the latest clash in the waterway since Moscow's withdrawal from a major grain export deal. Attacks by both sides have escalated in the Black Sea since Russia in July pulled out of the United Nations-brokered deal that had allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the shipping hub. Russia has repeatedly bombed Ukrainian port infrastructure in sea and on the Danube, while Ukraine has attacked Russian ships in its waters and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014. A Sukhoi Su-30sm jet from Russia's Black Sea Fleet destroyed a "reconnaissance boat" belonging to Ukraine's armed forces "in the area of Russian gas production facilities in the Black Sea", Moscow's defence ministry said on Telegram.

 It did not give details on what kind of boat had been destroyed, or where exactly the incident had taken place. Late Monday the ministry said its forces downed two Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the Crimean peninsula. Earlier this month a Russian tanker was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Kerch Strait, briefly halting traffic on a strategic bridge linking Crimea to Russia. The Moscow region was targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes for a fifth consecutive night, Russian authorities said early Tuesday, although no casualties were reported. Aerial defence had downed one attack drone each in the Krasnogorsk and Chastsy areas of the region, mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)