By&nbspAnka Kir

Published on
18/03/2026 – 23:25 GMT+1

The Russian gas carrier Arctic Metagaz, damaged by a series of explosions, has been drifting uncontrollably in the Mediterranean Sea for nearly two weeks, causing growing alarm among coastal states and environmental activists.

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Moscow claims that the vessel, which belongs to an authorised “shadow fleet”, was attacked by Ukrainian maritime drones. Kiev has not commented on these claims.

Aerial photos taken after the attack show a giant breach several dozen metres wide near the waterline. The scale of the destruction was so great that Libyan authorities mistakenly declared the ship a wreck on 4 March.

Hull damage and crew evacuation

The huge 277-metre tanker, its hull blackened by fire, lost control after explosions on 3 March, when 30 crew members – mostly Russian and Filipino nationals – were forced to abandon ship.

According to Russian reports, pops continue to be heard on board, gas emissions have been recorded, roll has increased, and localised fires have broken out in some compartments. At the time of the crew evacuation, 450 tonnes of fuel oil, 250 tonnes of diesel fuel and significant volumes of natural gas remained in the tanks, which significantly increases the risk of an emergency development up to explosion.

Environmental risks and Europe’s response

AFP footage taken on Sunday shows the vessel about 50 nautical miles southwest of Malta, with the tanker’s stern and sides visibly blackened by the fire.

Environmentalists have labelled the Arctic Metagaz a “floating time bomb” and warned that a leak or explosion could cause long-term damage to one of the Mediterranean’s most biodiversity-rich areas. Experts note that the damaged hull and ongoing internal processes make the situation unpredictable.

Leading environmental NGO WWF emphasised that possible contamination may have consequences for years to come.

European governments are also concerned about the situation: Italy, France and seven other EU countries have sent a joint appeal to the European Commission, warning of an “immediate and serious danger” to the region.

Legal uncertainty

The vessel is drifting between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa while remaining in international waters, complicating the question of who should take responsibility for intervening.

Rescue teams are already in Malta, ready for possible intervention if the ship approaches the country’s territorial waters. However, the question of who exactly should act remains a matter of diplomatic dispute.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow controls the situation as a flag state, but emphasised that international norms place responsibility for preventing environmental damage on coastal states.

While it is being discussed who exactly should take decisive action, the Arctic Metagaz continues its uncontrolled drift and the risk of a serious environmental incident remains high.

A reported airstrike on a hospital in Afghanistan that allegedly left hundreds dead is drawing growing scrutiny, not only over the strike itself but over what critics describe as a muted international response.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government said more than 400 people were killed and hundreds were wounded after a strike hit the Omid Hospital, a major drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul, according to Reuters. Civilians, including children, also have been killed in escalating cross-border strikes in Pakistan, The Associated Press reported. 

The casualty figures have not been independently verified.

The strike comes amid a rapidly escalating military campaign between Pakistan and Afghanistan that has intensified over the past three weeks.

INDIA STEPS UP DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH THE TALIBAN AS RIVAL PAKISTAN LOSES INFLUENCE IN AFGHANISTAN

Cross-border airstrikes and clashes have expanded across multiple provinces, with Pakistan targeting what it says are bases of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group responsible for attacks inside Pakistan and designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. The Taliban government has accused Islamabad of violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty.

At a United Nations briefing Wednesday, a U.N. spokesperson said the conflict has now entered its third week, with widespread civilian impact. More than 115,000 people have been displaced, more than 300 shelters damaged or destroyed, and at least 25 health facilities closed or disrupted due to the fighting, according to U.N. humanitarian agencies.

Pakistan has denied targeting a hospital, saying the operation struck militant infrastructure.

“Since the beginning of this counterterrorism campaign, Pakistan has sought to defend and protect the people of Pakistan … by targeting terrorists and terrorist infrastructure that are incubated and nurtured by the Afghan Taliban,” Prime Minister’s spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi told Fox News Digital.

PAKISTAN DECLARES ‘OPEN WAR’ ON AFGHANISTAN IN RESPONSE TO TALIBAN’S RETALIATORY STRIKES

Zaidi said the strike targeted weapons and ammunition at Camp Phoenix in Kabul and insisted, “There are no civilian hospitals in Camp Phoenix,” adding that reports of a rehabilitation facility being hit may be due to “secondary explosions” from stored weapons.

The United Nations on Wednesday, two days after the attack, condemned the reported strike, with Secretary-General António Guterres, through a spokesperson, “strongly condemning” an airstrike that “reportedly resulted in the death (and) injury of civilians at a hospital,” and calling for an independent investigation.

Still, some analysts say the response does not match the scale of the incident.

“UN officials swiftly condemned U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s regime as unlawful ‘aggression’ … Yet Pakistan’s airstrike on Kabul’s Omid Hospital — killing over 400 civilians — has drawn only a belated ‘strong condemnation’ … and standard pleas for ‘de-escalation’,” Executive Director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital.

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“This restrained response — no personal outrage from Guterres, no emergency session naming Pakistan, and no equivalent chorus from UN rapporteurs, or agencies like WHO, UN Women, and UNICEF — reveals rank hypocrisy,” he said. “When hundreds of vulnerable Afghans die in a hospital, the UN offers measured words. Yet when the U.S. or Israel can be blamed — justifiably or not — the condemnation is immediate and overwhelming. When some victims matter far more than others, the UN reveals its cynical political agenda. This double standard doesn’t uphold human rights, it erodes them.” 

Human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky echoed that criticism in a post on X, calling the strike “an absolute massacre,” while noting what he described as a lack of global outrage: “World outrage? Zero. Could barely muster p17 in the newspaper here.”