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Russian forces struck a civilian cargo ship flying the Liberian flag at a port in Ukraine’s Odesa region on October 3, killing one crew member and injuring three others, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority said.
The crew member who was killed was a motorman. Thirteen other crew members were evacuated to a safe location, according to the authority.
The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority described the attack as another deliberate strike on civilian shipping and said Russia continued to endanger merchant vessels and seafarers operating along Ukraine’s maritime routes. This is the Ukrainian authority’s characterization of the attack.
The incident follows several other attacks on civilian vessels linked to Ukraine’s Black Sea shipping routes. On September 23, a Russian strike hit a cargo ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, killing its Ukrainian captain. On September 17, a Tanzanian-flagged civilian vessel was attacked while sailing toward a Ukrainian port, with its captain killed and three crew members injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Russia has repeatedly claimed that its strikes target military or military-linked infrastructure. Russian claims about specific targets are not independently verified in these reports.
