(MENAFN) A senior Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official flatly rejected Moscow's allegations Tuesday that Kyiv orchestrated a drone assault on a Russian oil tanker in the Black Sea, suggesting Russia may have fabricated the incident.

Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi stated that Ukraine "officially refutes any allegations of such kind made by Russian propaganda," while challenging the plausibility of the vessel's reported path. He argued the purported route—from Russia toward Georgia through Türkiye's exclusive economic zone—"makes no sense" and could signal Russia "staged the whole thing."

Russia's River and Sea Transport Agency previously asserted that the MIDVOLGA-2 tanker suffered an unmanned aerial vehicle strike at approximately 8 am local time (0500GMT) during Black Sea operations.

The agency reported minor structural damage to the vessel, which maintained seaworthiness and navigated under its own propulsion toward the Turkish port of Sinop, with zero crew casualties.

Türkiye's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs independently verified that the tanker signaled an attack roughly 80 nautical miles from the nation's Black Sea coastline before heading to Sinop province. Authorities confirmed all 13 crew members remained unharmed.

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