Local media in Russia said the SIG vessel was approaching the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov when it was hit.

The claims come a day after a Ukrainian drone damaged another Russian ship in the Black Sea, with Sky News-verified footage showing it partially sunk.

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Interfax, a news agency in Ukraine, quoted an anonymous security source, who said the country was responsible for the attack, which took place in its territorial waters.

Ukraine does not usually admit to attacks on Russian-controlled territory.

Sky News has not verified the claims.

There are no reports of injuries, but the Crimean Bridge was suspended for several hours, according to Moscow-backed officials on the peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

The vessel targeted in Saturday's attack was delivering oil to Russian troops based in Syria, according to Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in Ukraine's southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia.

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The SIG, its operator, and its owner, had previously been sanctioned by the US for helping provide jet fuel in Syria.

Posting on Telegram, Mr Rogov said the SIG asked for a tug back to port, alongside pictures of the purportedly damaged vessel.

"The SIG tanker... received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack," Russia's Federal Marine and River Transport agency said in a statement on Telegram.

Russian-state news agency RIA, citing the Novorossiysk Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said water had stopped coming into the ship, and work to recover it was under way.

It added that no fuel was spilled.

Russian officials in Crimea said the bridge, which has previously been targeted, was not hit.

Kyiv did not immediately respond to the incident.