KYIV, July 19 (Reuters) – Russian forces struck an international cargo vessel in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa, killing at least five crew members, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.
The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship had left port loaded with corn and was carrying a crew of 17 sailors from India and Syria, in addition to one Ukrainian, said Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi.
Eight crew members were rescued from the vessel — which was still burning late on Sunday — and five remain missing, he added.
A Reuters witness in Odesa saw smoke billowing from a large vessel off the coast. Moscow has not publicly commented on Sunday’s strike.
Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks on deepwater ports in southern Ukraine that handle much of the country’s grain and other critical cargo in the fifth year of war.
“A civilian ship. An international crew. A route serving global food security. Putin saw another target,” acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“This attack leaves no room for illusions. Putin’s Russia does not care whom it kills.”
On Saturday, one person was killed when Russia attacked port infrastructure in Odesa, hitting a vessel under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda.
A day earlier, three people were killed in Russian strikes on Odesa and Mykolaiv.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk in Kyiv; Additional reporting by Iryna Nazarchuk in Odesa; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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