PARIS, August 8. /TASS/. The French Foreign Ministry’s failure to admonish the Kiev regime after media outlets asked it to comment on the Ukrainian attack on a civilian vessel in the Black Sea is outrageous, the Russian Embassy in France said.

"It was with outrage that we familiarized ourselves with the response by the French Foreign Ministry to a media request to comment on an attack by a Ukrainian seaborne drone on a Russian civilian vessel, the Sig tanker, in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait overnight on August 5. Instead of at least condemning the Kiev regime which, by the way, is not even concealing its involvement in the incident or making their Ukrainian proteges cease any terrorist activity or strikes on civilian targets, the Quai d'Orsay opted for nothing else but yet another 'classic' set of unfounded accusations against Russia," the Russian diplomatic mission said on its Telegram channel.

"This is what is called 'passing the buck.' Such an approach by the French Foreign Ministry can cause nothing but disgust," the Russian Embassy added.

On Monday, France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, replying to a request by a TASS correspondent to comment on an attack perpetrated by the Kiev regime against a civilian tanker in the Black Sea, expressed the "deepest concern over the humanitarian, economic and environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine" and condemned Moscow’s role in the Ukrainian conflict. The foreign policy agency did not voice its position with regard to the Kiev regime’s attacks on civilian vessels or the threats of such attacks. A question as to whether the ministry viewed the attack on the tanker as fraught with a potential environmental disaster was also left without any response.

Attack on civilian vessel

Earlier, Russia’s Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport reported that the Sig tanker, attacked by the Ukrainian side using a seaborne drone overnight on Saturday sustained a hull breach near its engine room. At that time, 11 people were onboard the tanker, none of them were injured. The vessel was approaching the Kerch Strait from the south. On August 7, the agency reported that an oil slick left after the incident was treated with a biosorbent as not subject to removal.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the Kiev regime’s terrorist attacks won’t be left unanswered while their masterminds will be punished. The UN urged the conflicting sides to refrain from actions which may lead to further escalation.