Russia suspends ferry service to Crimea after Ukrainian port attack

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has suspended a ferry service between southern Russia and Crimea after a Ukrainian attack the previous day hit a vessel loaded with rail cars carrying fuel, Russia's Transport Ministry said on Friday.

Ukraine's Navy said on Friday that it had destroyed a ferry at Port Kavkaz in Russia's Krasnodar region, one of Russia's largest outlets on the Black Sea, which it said had been used to deliver fuel and weapons to Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The Russian Transport Ministry said in a statement that the ferry service to Crimea had been temporarily suspended while clear-up work took place.

It said an alternative overland route could be used to send cargo to Crimea in the meantime.

The RIA state news agency, citing emergency cervices, said a fire sparked by the Ukrainian attack had "practically" not affected the port's infrastructure, but that the ferry struck by Ukraine was half submerged.

Local authorities had said earlier it had sunk.

The ferry was carrying 30 rail cars loaded with fuel according to Fyodor Babenkov, district head of the town of Temryuk which includes the port.

Russia's Emergencies ministry said on Thursday that 17 people had been rescued after the attack and that one person was not accounted for.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)