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A Russian missile strike on a corn cargo ship near the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa killed 10 people, Ukrainian officials said Monday, in the deadliest outbreak of violence in weeks in the Black Sea.
Russia hit the Golden Leo – a Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship with crew from India and Syria – with three missiles, which caused a fire on Sunday, the Ukrainian military wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
A Reuters witness in Odesa saw smoke from a ship off the coast on Sunday, Reuters was able to confirm that it was the Golden Leo.
The search and rescue operation lasted through the night, Ukrainian port authorities said, adding that nine crew members and one seaman were killed. Eight of the ship’s 17 crew were rescued.
A separate Russian attack on Odesa, Ukraine’s largest port, killed three people and wounded three others on Monday, according to Serhiy Lysak, the head of the city’s administrative department. He said infrastructure facilities were attacked but did not give any other details.
Meanwhile, Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of killing five civilians, including a young child, in a drone attack on a bus in Russia’s Belgorod region and said three other civilians were in hospital in critical condition.
Alexander Shuvayev, the governor of Belgorod region, said in a statement on Telegram that 23 civilians were injured in the attack.
“It is with a heavy heart that I report: according to the first information, five innocent civilians, including a small child, were killed as a result of this brutal and disgusting attack: four women and one boy died from their injuries,” he said.
Reuters could not independently confirm the report. There is no current comment from Ukraine.
Belgorod region straddles Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region and has been under constant attack by Kyiv forces since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to its neighbor in early 2022. Both sides deny that they deliberately targeted civilians.
The Black Sea invasion is on the rise again
The Black Sea was a symbol of the first months of the war. But under an agreement meant to cushion the shock to world prices and allow both countries to export grain, shipping had resumed.
Moscow and Kyiv, however, are now stepping up attacks in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov and targeting important sources of revenue.
Ukrainian forces have struck Russian energy infrastructure, including oil tankers, while Russia is intensifying its attacks on Ukraine’s deep-sea ports and cargo ships.
Golden Leo is owned by Mumbai-based Ocean Grace Shipping Ltd, according to LSEG data. Its manager, Friends Shipping Co SA, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that the military had raided a fuel storage facility in the port of Odesa overnight, Interfax reported.
Andrew Chang breaks down why Ukraine’s air defenses failed to intercept any missiles fired by Russia during its latest offensive. Photos provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters, Adobe Stock and Getty Images
Russian strikes have killed 28 people in the Odesa region so far this month, the governor said on Monday.
Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters, and renewed violence along the route has raised concerns about supplies.
In the meantime18:56Is Russia losing the war with Ukraine?
Ukraine, which in recent times accounted for about six percent of its wheat exports and about 11 percent of its corn exports, has lost about a third of its grain export capacity through its Black Sea ports due to Russian missile and drone attacks, traders and analysts said.
The attack on Ukraine has forced Russia, the world’s largest grain exporter, to limit shipping in the Sea of Azov – a route that handles about a quarter of its grain exports, sources told Reuters.
