A Russian missile strike on a grain ship near Ukraine’s port of Odesa has killed 10 people, Ukrainian officials said on Monday, in the deadliest attack in a weeks-long escalation of violence threatening vital Black Sea shipping routes. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo, carrying corn and crewed by Indian and Syrian nationals, was hit by three cruise missiles on Sunday, according to Ukraine’s navy.
The strike sparked a fire and killed nine crew members and a Ukrainian maritime pilot, while eight of the vessel’s 17 crew members were rescued. The attack was followed by a separate Russian strike on Odesa that killed three people and wounded three others, according to local officials.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had struck fuel reservoirs at the port. The renewed violence is raising fresh concerns over grain supplies and maritime trade in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, where Russia and Ukraine have increasingly targeted each other’s infrastructure and commercial shipping.
Ukraine, a major global grain exporter, has already lost significant export capacity through its Black Sea ports because of repeated Russian missile and drone attacks. Ukrainian strikes have also prompted Russia to restrict shipping in the Sea of Azov, a route responsible for roughly a quarter of Russian grain exports.