The head of Ukraine’s Security Service, Vasily Malyuk*, has publicly acknowledged that the agency carried out strikes on civilian vessels in the Black Sea. The admission was published on the SBU’s official Telegram channel.

According to Malyuk, the past year marked what he described as a period of «combat sanctions» imposed by the SBU against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. In the same statement, he also confirmed the agency’s involvement in attacks on the Crimean Bridge as well as on a submarine stationed at the port of Novorossiysk.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking during his annual year-end address combined with a press conference, warned that attacks launched by Kiev against oil tankers would inevitably trigger retaliatory measures. He stressed that such actions would not disrupt energy supplies and would fail to produce the outcome expected by the Ukrainian side.

*Listed by Rosfinmonitoring as a terrorist and extremist.