Tanker fire and terminal strike: security, 4 March 2026

What had changed in the security picture by 4 March 2026? Reports from the preceding days pointed to strikes on Russian energy assets and a notable shift in European nuclear policy.

On 3 March 2026, the Russian liquefied natural gas tanker Arctic Metagaz caught fire in the Mediterranean Sea after being struck by a Ukrainian naval drone, as reported at the time.

A day earlier, on 2 March 2026, Ukrainian drones struck an oil terminal in the Russian port city of Novorossiysk, in Krasnodar Krai. Four residential buildings in the area were reportedly damaged in the attack.

A French nuclear announcement

Also on 2 March 2026, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that France would increase its stockpile of nuclear weapons for the first time in decades. He cited global threats, including Russia's war on Ukraine, China's growing military power in Asia and changing U.S. defence priorities, as reasons for the build-up.

Taken together, the reports from 2 and 3 March 2026 showed the war reaching a Russian port and a vessel in the Mediterranean, while Russia's war on Ukraine featured among the justifications France gave for expanding its nuclear arsenal.