Nov. 8, 2024, 11:57 a.m.
(Photo: CJR)
Gas has been burning continuously on offshore platforms near Ukrainian drilling rigs in the Black Sea, seized by Russia, for more than two years.
This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.
The publication explained that Russia uses the platforms for military intelligence by installing electronic equipment there. After recent attacks by Ukrainian military special forces, some of these facilities were taken under control.
(Offshore platforms of Chornomornaftogaz at the Odesa field on Sentinel-2 satellite images. 30.10.2024 Photo: apps.sentinel-hub.com)
As of October 30, 2024, smoke columns are rising over four of the 14 platforms, with the longest fire since June 2022. One of the block conductors, located 50 kilometers east of Zmiinyi Island, has been on fire for three autumns. In June 2022, the occupation authorities of Crimea claimed an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which allegedly damaged the Tavrida drilling rig, which Russia had taken away from the state-owned company Chernomorneftegaz.
Satellite imagery also shows that on August 10, 2024, an offshore fixed platform began to smoke when the Ukrainian Armed Forces hit one of the platforms seized by the Russians. Probably, platform No. 17 was hit, which the occupiers equipped with electronic warfare systems, making navigation in the area difficult.
New "hot spots" appeared in early August and in late October, when two more platforms caught fire in another location near the Crimean peninsula. There were no official statements about the new fires from Ukraine or Russia, but it is known that the Russian company Chernomorneftegaz completely stopped production due to the strikes by the Ukrainian armed forces, which led to a 28.1% decrease in mineral production in occupied Crimea.