Pro-Russian hacker groups Beregini, Killnet and Cyber Serp claimed this Wednesday to have identified the perpetrators of the recent naval drone attacks against tankers of the Russian shadow fleet in the Black Sea and linked the former head of the Ukrainian Army, Valeri Zaluzhni, to these incidents.
“We kept our promise and published the data of the commander of the 385th Brigade of naval drones, Captain Alexandr Scheptsov. He is the one who deals with the organization and planning of terrorist attacks in the Black Sea,” the Beregini group reported on Telegram.
They also identified as responsible the corvette captain Maxim Lischuk, who leads a division of unmanned nautical systems, and the list of personnel of this special operations unit.
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“All the information about these people is on our website,” they pointed out.
The Jaqueres indicated that these terrorist attacks are carried out “following London’s plans to torpedo once again the peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow”.
In particular, they claimed that these were attacks organized by high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian General Staff linked to Zaluzhni and the British MI6.
“The main goal is to thwart peace negotiations at any cost,” they indicated.
Kyiv claimed responsibility over the weekend for two naval drone attacks against the oil tankers Kairos and Virat, both flagged in Gambia and without cargo at the time of the attack, which were heading to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, in the Black Sea, allegedly to load Russian crude oil.
Another Turkish tanker, which according to some reports is part of the Russian shadow fleet, was also damaged on Saturday by four external explosions of as yet unexplained origin off the coast of Senegal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of piracy and warned that “if this continues, we will consider the possibility (…) of taking retaliatory measures against the ships of those countries that are helping Ukraine to commit these acts.”
Furthermore, in response to Ukraine’s actions, Russian forces will expand the scope of their attacks “against port facilities and ships docking at Ukrainian ports,” the Russian leader warned.
Putin also threatened to leave Kyiv without access to the Black Sea, something he already tried in vain in the first two years of the war, if attacks against Russian ships do not cease.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday described the recent Ukrainian attack on two tankers in the Black Sea that were going to load crude oil at a Russian port as “inexcusable,” and even NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called this “the broader risk” posed to security by the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
