The fate of the Ursa Major': Mystery surrounds Russian ship sunk off the coast of Spain carrying nuclear material

"Around the second half of December 2024, Kyiv's intelligence services reported that a Russian ship was damaged and stranded in the Mediterranean. It had suffered, they claimed, an engine problem. The GUR, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's spy agency, identified the vessel as the Sparta. According to Kyiv's version at the time, it was en route to Syria to transport military equipment. Ukraine never claimed responsibility for any sabotage that might have damaged the enemy vessel."

"On December 23, 2024, the cargo ship, renamed Ursa Major although until 2021 it bore the name Sparta on its hull, a long-standing family of Russian ships sunk to a depth of 2,500 meters off the coasts of Algeria and Spain. According to information gathered by the Spanish government and reported by CNN on Tuesday, the ship was carrying, in addition to more than 100 empty containers, several components of two nuclear reactors such as those used in nuclear submarines including the reactor housings."

"The sinking of the Ursa Major was never included on the list of victims of Ukrainian naval drones capable of operating in the Mediterranean Sea as were dozens of ships belonging to the so-called Russian ghost fleet, with which the Kremlin sails outside the law to trade, primarily, in hydrocarbons and military equipment. The mystery remained. A year after the Ursa Major turned off its tracking system, which it only activated to request a rescue operation carried out by Spanish maritime authorities the local newspaper La Verdad de Murcia published a remarkable investigation revealing that the ship was transporting materials for assembling nuclear reactors, destined for the port city of Rason in North Korea, a Russian ally."

"Shortly afterward, on January 12, 2025, four members of the conservative opposition Popular Party submitted a question to the Spanish parliament regarding the rescue of the"

Kyiv’s intelligence services reported that a Russian cargo ship was damaged and stranded in the Mediterranean around mid-December 2024. The GUR identified the vessel as the Sparta, claiming it was traveling to Syria to transport military equipment. Ukraine did not claim responsibility for any sabotage. On December 23, 2024, the cargo ship—renamed Ursa Major, previously named Sparta—sank to a depth of 2,500 meters off Algeria and Spain. Spanish government information reported by CNN said the ship carried more than 100 empty containers and components of two nuclear reactors, including reactor housings. The sinking was not listed among victims of Ukrainian Mediterranean-capable naval drones, leaving the cause unclear. A year after the ship disabled tracking, La Verdad de Murcia reported it was transporting materials for assembling nuclear reactors destined for Rason in North Korea. On January 12, 2025, Spanish parliamentarians asked about the rescue of the vessel.

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