The Sea Ports Administration of Ukraine said 13 crew members were evacuated to a safe location following the strike, which it described as another deliberate Russian attack on civilian shipping. According to Zn.ua, the vessel was hit by a kamikaze drone.
Russia's Defense Ministry said a cargo-type vessel was struck in the port of Odesa, claiming it had delivered military equipment to Ukraine.
The attack is the latest in a series of Russian strikes on foreign civilian vessels in the Black Sea over the past month. According to a count by The Insider, at least five sailors have been killed, two of them captains.
On September 10, Russian drones attacked the civilian vessel TEDY under the flag of Somalia. Two Azerbaijani citizens were killed and two others wounded. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said the injured were taken to a hospital in Chornomorsk and urged its citizens to avoid travel to combat zones and work on ships on those routes.
A week later, on September 17, a Russian drone attacked a civilian vessel under the flag of Tanzania that was heading to a Ukrainian port. According to Ukraine's Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories, the captain was killed and three other crew members were wounded.
On September 23, Russian forces struck a cargo ship under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda in the Odesa region. Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said the ship's captain, a Ukrainian citizen, was killed.
On September 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported an attack by Russian forces on a civilian vessel under the flag of Palau in the Odesa region.
Ukraine's Ministry for Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport said Russia is systematically attacking Ukrainian ports, port infrastructure and civilian merchant vessels, endangering people and international shipping in the Black Sea.