Somali pirates attacked the Russian tanker Moskovsky Universitet on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden, a navy source said.

"The incident occurred around 8.00 a.m. Moscow time [04:00 GMT], when the tanker was on its way from the Red Sea to China. The pirates attacked the Russian vessel 350 miles east of the Gulf of Aden. There are 23 people on board, all of them Russian citizens," he said.

MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti)