Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked two tankers carrying Russian oil in a devastating blow for the Kremlin.
The rebels have repeatedly targeted vessels sailing in the Red Sea, as they step up their attacks on commercial shipping in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
On Monday, two ships reportedly carrying Russian oil came under attack from drones and small boats.
Three small Houthi vessels, two of which were crewed and another unmanned, attacked the Panama-flagged and Israeli-owned MT Bently I off the coast of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, according to British and American authorities.
The “reported unmanned small craft collided with the vessel twice and the two manned small craft fired at the vessel,” the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre reported.
“The vessel conducted self-protection measures, after 15 minutes the small craft aborted the attack.”
The captain later reported three separate waves of missile attacks that exploded in close proximity to the vessel. The ship was carrying oil and is reported to have been on its way to Shanghai from the port of Taman in southern Russia.
The tanker Chios Lion also came under drone attack, as it was making its way from Tuapse in southern Russia.
The vessel is a Liberian-flagged and Marshall Islands-owned oil tanker, and was reportedly transporting one hundred thousand tonnes of Russia oil.
The ship was attacked by a Houthi UAV, which “impacted on the port side causing some damage and light smoke,” the UKMTO said. No casualties were reported on either ship, according to British authorities.
Early on Tuesday, the US Central Command confirmed the attacks and slammed the reckless behaviour of the Houthi rebels, which they said was endangering regional stability and the lives of sailors.
They added: “The Houthis claim to be acting on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza and yet they are targeting and threatening the lives of third-country nationals who have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza.”
Russia relies heavily on its oil exports to help fund its war in Ukraine. Since the invasion, Western countries have imposed a price cap of US$60 per barrel on Moscow’s oil.
The Kremlin is increasingly relying on a “dark fleet” of oil tankers to get around the Western sanctions on its oil.
Currently, the main buyers of Putin’s oil are China (48 percent), India (35 percent), the EU (seven percent) and Turkey (six percent).