All three of Boyko's "rigs" are burning in the Black Sea

Three gas production platforms - Boyko's towers - that were liberated by the Ukrainian military in September 2023 caught fire recently and are still burning.

This was reported by the Suspilne media outlet with reference to OSINT analyst MT Anderson, who posted satellite images of the incident on X (formerly Twitter).

"All three drilling platforms were attacked east of Zmeinyi Island... As of August 24, 2024, the middle platform is on fire and the third platform is emitting a plume of smoke," the post reads.

The day before, Zmeinyi Island, located in the Odesa region, was targeted by Russian aircraft at night. On August 24, Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers attacked southern Ukraine, firing four X-22 cruise missiles at the island.

Ukraine regained control of the so-called "Boyko Towers" in September 2023. "The Boyko Rigs are gas and oil drilling platforms off the coast of Crimea in the Black Sea. After the occupation of Crimea, Russia occupied them in 2015, and with the beginning of the full-scale invasion, used them for military purposes. In particular, as helicopter landing sites and for the deployment of radar equipment.

The operation to establish control over the Boyko towers was carried out by the units of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. In particular, the Petro Godovalets and Ukraina drilling platforms, as well as the Tavrida and Syvash drilling platforms, were returned to control.

During the operation, the special forces managed to capture valuable trophies: a stockpile of helicopter munitions such as NAR (unguided aerial missiles), as well as the Neva radar, which can track the movement of ships in the Black Sea.

During one phase of the operation, a battle took place between Ukrainian special forces on boats and a Russian Su-30 fighter jet.