A Russian overnight assault in the Black Sea has left an Egyptian seafarer dead after three merchant vessels were struck in attacks targeting commercial shipping off Ukraine’s coast. Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said the attacks took place in the early hours of Monday and involved vessels flying the flags of Panama, Palau and Belize.
The Panama-flagged 2,300 dwt bulker named Victress was hit by a drone, triggering a major fire on board. According to maritime security firm Vanguard Tech, the vessel’s Egyptian cook was killed in the strike, while the remaining eight crew members — from Egypt, Turkey and India — were safely evacuated by Ukrainian naval forces.
“The vessel sustained damage and remained at anchor following the attack,” the firm said. Victress was operating in the Black Sea en route to Ukraine’s Odesa region when it was struck. AIS data from Pole Star Global’s PurpleTrac shows the vessel regularly trades between Eregli, Turkey, and Sulina, Romania.
No casualties have been reported aboard the Palau- and Belize-flagged vessels. The latest attacks come amid a renewed intensification of fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war, including Ukraine’s high-profile long-range drone strikes last week that reportedly reached targets as far away as Moscow.
The incident follows another deadly assault on commercial shipping on Friday 19 June, when a wave of Russian UAV attacks killed a seafarer aboard a Panama-flagged vessel and injured two others, one of them critically, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration, Oleksii Kuleba.
During the same attacks, three crew members aboard a St Kitts and Nevis-flagged ship suffered minor injuries after their vessel was hit. Merchant shipping has repeatedly found itself in the crossfire of the conflict. The latest escalation follows a series of Ukrainian strikes against Russian shadow fleet vessels in late 2025, after which Moscow threatened to cut Ukraine off from the sea and stepped up attacks on ports and commercial vessels operating in Ukrainian waters.