Russian attacks kill three on civilian ships near Ukraine's Odessa

At least three people died Tuesday in Russian attacks on a civilian ship in the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa and two other vessels in the Black Sea, Ukrainian authorities announced. The attacks targeted ships navigating corridors intended for Ukrainian grain exports.

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In the evening, the enemy launched a new attack against port facilities in the Odessa region. During the attack, an enemy drone hit a civilian ship flying the Marshall Islands flag.

In the evening, an enemy drone struck a civilian ship flying the Marshall Islands flag near Odessa, igniting a fire. Two individuals were killed in this attack, according to Oleg Kiper, head of the regional military administration. He reported the incident via Telegram.

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Unfortunately, two people were killed during the attack.

Earlier, two commercial vessels, one under the Tanzanian flag and another Liberian-flagged ship sailing in the Black Sea, were hit by Russian strikes. The captain of one of these ships died, and three of the eleven evacuated sailors were injured, Kiper stated. The nationalities of the victims were not specified.

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At a result of this attack, the captain of one of the ships died.

Kiper denounced the strikes as "war crimes against peaceful populations, civilian navigation, and global food security." Russian forces frequently bomb Ukrainian port infrastructure, particularly around Odessa. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have intensified attacks on vessels in the Sea of Azov in recent days, a key transport route for Russian agricultural exports and supplies to annexed Crimea.

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Each of these cynical strikes by the enemy constitutes a war crime against peaceful populations, civilian navigation, and global food security.