Rubio: Ukraine struck ships carrying oil shipments to the United States

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Ukraine on Tuesday of striking ships and oil cargoes with ties to the United States during Kyiv’s retaliatory attacks on the Russian oil industry.

Rubio told U.S. television network Fox News that there have been several incidents in recent months affecting “ships linked to America and American oil supplies.”

The U.S. secretary of state said the ships were hit, “perhaps not intentionally, but Ukraine targeted them nonetheless. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. Such occurrences cannot be tolerated.”

Rubio did not provide details. The incident is likely to have occurred at the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, which is used not only to export oil from Russia but also from Kazakhstan.

Ukrainian drone strikes have repeatedly hit the pipeline and loading facilities. In July, media reports indicated that an oil tanker operating on behalf of ExxonMobil was damaged near Novorossiysk.