Russia strikes Liberian-flagged cargo ship at Odesa port, killing one sailor

Russia has attacked a Liberian-flagged cargo ship at one of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in the Odesa region, killing one person and injuring three, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Administration said on Saturday.

The port authority said in a statement on Telegram that 13 other crew members were evacuated to safety. The sailor killed was the vessel’s motorman, Ukrainian outlets RBC-Ukraine and Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing the administration; the three injured crew members were given emergency medical assistance.

The administration described the attack as a deliberate strike on civilian shipping. “Russia continues to terrorize the peaceful merchant fleet and sailors who risk their lives every day to keep Ukraine’s maritime routes operating,” it said, according to Interfax-Ukraine. Moscow had not publicly commented on the incident at the time of reporting, and the circumstances could not be independently verified.

The attack fits a pattern of Russian strikes on foreign commercial shipping calling at Odesa. On September 23, a Russian strike hit a cargo ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda in the Black Sea, killing its captain, and on September 17 a Russian drone attacked a Tanzania-flagged vessel heading for a Ukrainian port, killing its captain and injuring three crew, RBC-Ukraine reported. Ukraine’s delegation to the OSCE’s Forum for Security Co-operation has said Russian forces destroyed 1,054 Ukrainian port infrastructure facilities and struck 232 civilian vessels during the full-scale war.

Reuters noted that Russia has effectively renewed its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports since the summer, disrupting trade routes and dealing a heavy blow to grain and steel exports. (Black Sea shipping coverage: flipnews.co.uk/topics/black-sea-shipping/)