THIS is the moment a Russian ferry carrying fuel tankers exploded in a huge fireball after a reported Ukrainian missile strike.Smoke and flames could be seen rising from the ferry at the port of Kavkaz, near annexed Crimea, in a raging inferno.2Smoke and flames rise from a ferry following a fire at the port of Kavkaz, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, as seen from Chushka, Krasnodar region, RussiaCredit: Reuters2The giant blaze could be seen from miles awayCredit: ReutersRussian officials on Thursday blamed Ukraine for sinking the ferry in the southern Russian port.Kyiv has heavily targeted Crimea — a key logistics and military hub for Moscow — since Russia launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.”A railroad ferry carrying fuel was hit in the port of Kavkaz,” the Russian governor of the Krasnodar region, where the port is located, said in a post on Telegram.”As a result of the hit and the fire, the vessel sank,” Governor Veniamin Kondratyev added.Images on social media had earlier shown a fire and plume of smoke after Russian officials reported a Ukrainian attack on the port.The Kavkaz port sits in the Kerch Strait that separates Russia from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula it annexed in 2014.Ukrainian aerial attacks have targeted Crimea and the road and rail bridge connecting it to the Russian mainland throughout the conflict.Officials in Kyiv posted cryptic comments after the attack.”Beautiful,” Daria Zarivna, a communications advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a post on Telegram, attaching a photo of a large fire at the port.Speaking at an event for army veterans earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to call for his troops to step up attacks on Russian territory.”In order to throw the occupier out of our land, we have to create as many problems as possible for the Russian state on its territory,” he said.Russian officials did not say what weapon Ukraine used to strike the ship.Governor Kondratyev said search and rescue operations were ongoing for an unspecified number of crew members.Four who went overboard have been rescued, he added.Ukraine has hit multiple Russian vessels around the Black Sea throughout the 2.5-year conflict.A spate of attacks earlier in the fighting prompted Russia to relocate its Black Sea Fleet from its historic base at Sevastopol, on the southern coast of Crimea, further east to Novorossiisk, on the Russian mainland.More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun OnlineThesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.