Russia Strikes Liberian-Flagged Cargo Ship At Ukraine’s Odesa Port, Killing One

Russia struck a Liberian-flagged cargo ship at a port in Ukraine’s Odesa region, killing one crew member and injuring three others, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) said on Saturday, October 3.

Thirteen other crew members were evacuated after the attack, the USPA said.

The crew member who died was a motorman sailor. Three others were injured and received emergency medical treatment.

Emergency crews and port security personnel went to the vessel after the strike. They secured the ship and checked the damage.

The attack is the latest reported strike on a foreign commercial vessel in and around Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

Russia has effectively renewed its blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports since the summer, according to the information provided. 

The blockade has disrupted trade routes and reduced Ukraine’s grain and steel exports. It has also dealt a heavy blow to the Ukrainian economy.

On September 10, a Russian strike hit the Somali-flagged tugboat Tedy in the Odesa region. Two Azerbaijani crew members were killed, and eight others were injured.

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the deaths. It identified the two sailors as Azerbaijani citizens Aslan Aliyev and Asim Gasimov.

Two of the injured sailors were taken to hospital in Chornomorsk, a nearby port city.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Reconstruction, Infrastructure and Transport said the attack was part of what it called an institutionalised Russian campaign against civilian maritime logistics.

Baku also warned its citizens against travelling through active conflict zones.

In June, another Russian strike on a commercial vessel killed five Azerbaijani sailors.

At least five Indian seafarers have also been killed in strikes on commercial ships in Black Sea transit lanes in recent months. The deaths led New Delhi to issue diplomatic demarches to both Moscow and Kyiv.

The strikes came after the collapse of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative. Russia has said it wants to disrupt maritime traffic to Ukrainian ports.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has defended the attacks on commercial vessels. He said such ships were being used to carry weapons, ammunition and fuel for Ukraine’s armed forces.

Peskov said Russian forces would continue to destroy such shipping. He also said the attacks on transport routes were retaliation for Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian economic and refining assets.

Ukraine and international maritime bodies have rejected those claims.

They say the vessels being targeted are ordinary merchant ships carrying agricultural and bulk cargo under international maritime law.

References: Reuters, Kyiv Post