Russian strike on cargo ship killed one – Ukraine deputy PM

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Russian drones set fire to a cargo vessel en route to Ukraine and killed one of its crew, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Monday.

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Moscow and Kyiv have escalated attacks on each other in recent weeks, as US-led talks on ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II remain effectively frozen.

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“A drone strike set fire to a vessel sailing under the Panama flag. A crew member was killed — a 58-year-old cook, a citizen of Egypt,” Kuleba wrote on Telegram.

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He said that eight sailors, including citizens of Turkey and India, fled the attack on a life raft, and that the vessel “sustained significant damage and lost seaworthiness”.

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The Ukrainian navy said that a “large-scale fire” broke out on the Turkish cargo vessel Victress, which was Panama-flagged, following the drone strike.

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“This incident once again demonstrates that the Russian Federation continues to violate the norms of international maritime law and to pose threats to civilian shipping,” the navy said in a Telegram post.

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Russians also attacked vessels sailing under the flags of Palau and Belize, with no casualties, according to Kuleba.

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Regional authorities in Ukraine separately reported on Monday that Russian attacks killed two people, one in a missile strike in the port city of Odesa and another in a drone attack in Zaporizhzhia in the country’s southeast.

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“Three people have been wounded, another woman remains trapped in a burning house following an enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia,” Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration wrote on Telegram on Monday.

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“Sadly, the death of the woman who was inside the house destroyed by the enemy drone has been confirmed,” Fedorov wrote in a later update.

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In Odesa, Ukraine’s emergency service said that Russian attacks set fire to an agricultural enterprise.

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“One person was killed as a result of yesterday’s missile strike on Odesa region’s civilian infrastructure. A further three people were wounded,” the emergency service said.

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In Russia, aviation authorities briefly closed Moscow’s four airports on Monday after a flurry of drones were intercepted.

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Russia’s ministry of defence said on Monday morning that air defences destroyed 301 Ukrainian drones across the country overnight.

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AFP

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