Three merchant vessels hit by Russian strikes near Odesa ports: a cook killed

On the night of 22 June, Russian forces attacked civilian merchant vessels approaching the ports of Odesa region in the Black Sea with strike drones; 3 ships heading to Ukrainian ports were struck.

The head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleg Kiper, reported the incident, publishing details in his Facebook post, where he noted that the targets were civilian merchant vessels bound for the region’s ports.

One of them, a dry cargo ship under the Panamanian flag, was damaged as a result of a hit; a fire broke out on board, the crew were evacuated, the ship remains at anchor, and among the seafarers there is a fatality — the cook, a 58-year-old citizen of Egypt.

Two other civilian ships flying the flags of Palau and Belize were also attacked by Russian drones; however, no one was injured, and both vessels retained seaworthiness and continue to carry out their missions.

The Odesa Regional Military Administration emphasized that strikes on civilian infrastructure and merchant shipping are war crimes and pose a direct threat to the security of international maritime logistics.

Earlier reports indicated that a crew member died in the Black Sea as a result of the strike on the Panamanian-flagged vessel, according to preliminary data released by the Ukrainian side.

Earlier we wrote:

• SAR markings did not stop the Russians: in the Black Sea they attacked civilian rescue boats
• Friendship ‘the Russian way’: an RF drone struck a ship with Chinese citizens
• Protection of sea lanes and strikes on the enemy: Ukraine will receive multifunctional corvettes
• The first two ships agreed to head to Ukrainian ports via a temporary corridor
• An Israeli civilian vessel broke through the Russian blockade of the Black Sea