Video: Russia repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on a ship protecting gas pipelines in the Black Sea, according to the government | Ukraine and Russia

On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the battleship Ivan Khors repelled an attack by three Ukrainian drones. The ship was located in the Black Sea, near the Bosphorus Strait, protecting the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines – which carry gas from Russia to Turkey.

“All enemy drones were destroyed by standard artillery from a Russian ship 140 km northeast of the Bosphorus,” Russian defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement posted on Telegram. “The ship of the Black Sea Fleet, Ivan Khors, continues to carry out its tasks,” he added.

Ukraine has not yet commented on the episode.

The Turk Stream carries gas from Russia’s Taman Peninsula westwards along the width of the Black Sea to a point west of the Bosphorus. However, the blue current crosses the eastern Black Sea from north to south, reaching more than 700 kilometers east of the Bosphorus Strait.

The ministry cited the attack as a justification for Russia to expand defensive measures. Explosions last September destroyed Nord Stream 1 and 2, which transport gas from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany.

The Russian statement appears to have heightened tensions in the Black Sea, where only last week Russia agreed, a day ahead of schedule, to extend an agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain from its seaports.