Ukraine's Navy says it destroyed Russian vessel ferrying arms, fuel

PHOTO CAPTION: Reuters

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's Navy confirmed on Friday that it had destroyed a ferry in the Russian port of Kavkaz that was used to deliver fuel and weapons to occupied Crimea.

Local authorities had earlier said the ferry was set ablaze and damaged in Thursday's attack on the port in Russia's southern Krasnodar region.

"Another undoubtedly military objective has been destroyed. Its purpose was to provide fuel for the invaders. The ferry sank and this port (Kavkaz) is not usable until the ferry is removed," Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told Ukrainian television.

"It was the ferries that accounted for three quarters of all logistics and were the main channel (of supply)," he added.

The ferry was carrying 30 fuel tanks, said Fyodor Babenkov, district head of the town of Temryuk which includes the port. He said it sustained significant damage as a result of the attack, Kyiv's latest strike on Russian territory as Moscow's war in Ukraine grinds on.

The port of Kavkaz is one of Russia's largest outlets on the Black Sea. It handles ships both for exports and for fuel supplies to Crimea, seized by Russian forces in 2014.



(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Christina Fincher and Timothy Heritage)