MOSCOW, Mar 12 : Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the attack on on the civilian commercial vessel Arctic Metagaz a “deliberate strike against a civilian object” and described it as “an act of terrorism and a war crime,” criticizing European nations for not condemning the incident.
Russia said its liquefied natural gas carrier Arctic Metagaz was attacked by maritime and aerial drones on March 3 in neutral waters 168 nautical miles southeast of Malta.
The vessel, which was carrying 100,000 cubic metres of LNG and a crew of 30 Russian sailors, was attacked by maritime and aerial drones in neutral waters in the central Mediterranean Sea. It lost power and caught fire, triggering explosions.
Ships with Russian crews operating in the region joined the search-and-rescue operation, with one locating the drifting lifeboat. By 8:30 p.m. local time that evening, all crew members had been rescued by an assisting tanker, which was to transport them to the nearest Russian port. Simultaneously, Western media circulated false claims that the vessel had “caught fire spontaneously and sank as a result of the blaze.”
During the fire aboard the Arctic Metagaz, two crew members sustained severe burns. Consequently, a decision was made to evacuate them as a matter of urgency.
The Maltese maritime authorities refused to assist in this evacuation. Assistance was provided by the maritime rescue service of the Libyan Republic, which dispatched a high-speed boat to transport the injured to a coastal hospital in the port of Benghazi.
She said that all crew members evacuated safely, with two sustaining serious burns. Libya’s maritime rescue service transported the injured to Benghazi, and they were later flown to Russia for treatment. Russian ships assisted in the rescue operation.
With the active assistance of the Russian Embassy in Libya, the sailors received professional medical care and treatment for four days. After their condition stabilised and medical professionals deemed them fit for travel to Russia, the two injured crew members of the Arctic Metagaz were flown to the Russian Federation on a special flight on March 10 and admitted to hospital.
The attack on a civilian commercial vessel in the Mediterranean Sea constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.
Notably, the attack occurred in close proximity to the shores of an EU member state, yet none of the European nations have condemned the incident to date.(UNI)
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