Ukrainian defenders attack "Boiko towers" stolen by Russia in the Black Sea
UKRAINSKA PRAVDA – MONDAY, 20 JUNE 2022, 13:15
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have hit the "Boiko towers" - drilling rigs belonging to the Russian-appropriated Chornomornaftogaz [an oil and gas company located in Simferopol, Crimea, that was "nationalised" by the Crimean authorities after the annexation of the peninsula].
Source: Kryminform; Sergei Aksyonov, Russia’s puppet leader in Crimea, on Telegram; Ukrainian People’s Deputy Oleksii Honcharenko on Telegram
Quote from Aksenov: "This morning the enemy struck the drilling rigs of Chornomornaftogaz. I am in touch with colleagues from the Ministry of Defence and the FSB [Russian Federal Security Service] and we are working to save people."
Quote from Honcharenko: "Our rocket troops were smoking - not near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, but near the Boiko towers. The missile strike on the towers has slightly hampered the Russians’ gas production in the Ukrainian Black Sea."
Details: According to Aksyonov, there are injured and missing people. Patrol boats and aircraft from the Russian Defence Ministry are trying to carry out rescue operations.
Background:
- In 2014, Russia seized two drilling rigs when Crimea was annexed. At the same time, they remained at the Odesa field, which is much closer to mainland Ukraine than to the peninsula. In December 2015, Russia moved the "Boiko towers'' closer to occupied Crimea.
- On 23 December 2015, the Pechersk court in Kyiv granted the Prosecutor General’s request to arrest the Boiko towers - drilling rigs on the Black Sea shelf for which Ukraine overpaid $400 million seven years ago.
In January 2017, a Ukrainian court arrested the drilling rigs seized by Russia.
