Tripoli has rejected a CNN report that Ukraine was permitted to use a military base in north-west Libya to launch drones against Russian vessels in the Mediterranean. The denial follows claims that Ukrainian drone operators had been stationed in the country since late 2025 and were using Misrata as a starting point for attacks on tankers linked to Russia’s shadow fleet.
Libya’s defence ministry, responding to the report cited by Le Figaro, said it had taken note of claims that a military base in Misrata had been used as a platform for operations against foreign parties or interests. It “categorically denies” the existence of any agreement, arrangement or co-ordination allowing the base, or any other Libyan military facility, to be used for attacks or military operations outside the sovereign missions of the Libyan state.
Tripoli rejects reported arrangements
The statement did not mention Ukraine by name. But its wording directly addressed the central claim in CNN’s report, which cited a Ukrainian source as saying that Ukrainian drone operators had been deployed in north-west Libya since the end of 2025.
According to CNN, the international military base in Misrata was being used as a launch site for drones targeting Russian oil tankers operating in the Mediterranean. The report presented the alleged arrangement as involving attacks on vessels associated with Russia’s shadow fleet, a term used in the material for the network of Russian oil tankers operating in the region.
Libya’s defence ministry said any use of national military infrastructure for attacks conducted on behalf of outside interests would fall outside the country’s sovereign responsibilities. Its denial therefore covers not only the specific allegation concerning Misrata, but also any other Libyan military facility.
A reported attack near Sirte
The claims have been linked to an incident reported by Libyan authorities in early March involving the Russian tanker-gas carrier Arctic Metagaz. The authorities said the vessel came under attack north of the port of Sirte after “sudden explosions followed by a major fire”.
Moscow blamed Ukraine for the incident, saying the ship had been attacked by naval drones launched from the Libyan coast. The material does not provide an independent confirmation of that accusation, while Libya’s latest statement rejects the existence of any agreement or co-ordination allowing attacks to be launched from its territory.
The competing accounts leave the alleged role of Misrata at the centre of the dispute. CNN’s report describes a sustained Ukrainian presence and a base being used for operations against Russian-linked shipping. Tripoli’s defence ministry says no such permission or operational arrangement exists. Both accounts cannot describe the same activity in the same terms: one points to a Libyan facility being used as a launch platform, while the other denies that Libya authorised such a role.
What the dispute could mean for Mediterranean shipping
The episode highlights the strategic importance of Libya’s Mediterranean coastline in the confrontation surrounding Russian shipping. If the CNN account were correct, a military base in Misrata would have served as a staging point for drone operations against tankers far from the immediate front line of the war. That would place Libyan territory directly inside a wider contest over vessels linked to Russia’s oil trade.
Tripoli’s denial instead seeks to draw a clear line between Libya’s military facilities and attacks on foreign vessels or interests. It also leaves unresolved whether the reported attack on the Arctic Metagaz was connected to activity from the Libyan coast, as Moscow alleges, or whether the claims about Misrata reflect information that the Libyan authorities reject.
The next significant question is whether further evidence will emerge to support either the reported Ukrainian deployment or Libya’s categorical denial. Until then, the alleged use of Misrata remains contested, while the attack on the Russian vessel has become the focus of sharply conflicting accounts from Moscow, Tripoli and the sources cited by CNN.
Should the claims about Misrata be substantiated, what responsibility would Libya have for operations launched from its territory?
