Russian forces struck the civilian cargo ship Golden Leo, which was transporting grain, with three Kh-59/Kh-69 cruise missiles, Ukraine's navy said. The missiles hit the starboard superstructure, sparking a fire that killed five people; the fate of five other crew members remains unknown and a search is ongoing. Eight sailors were evacuated to a hospital in Odesa.
Ukraine's minister for restoration, infrastructure and transport, Mykola Kalashnyk, later reported six dead, including a Ukrainian pilot, and four missing. The crew included citizens of Syria and India, Ukraine's foreign ministry said.
The vessel was owned by a Turkish company, according to Ukraine's navy. Data from the Starboard Maritime Intelligence project, analyzed by The Insider, showed the commercial and technical operator was Friends Shipping Co SA of Mersin, Turkey, and the registered owner was Ocean Grace Shipping Ltd.
Ukraine's navy did not specify the exact location of the attack, saying only that the ship was leaving a combat zone with a grain cargo. The Insider noted that the last AIS signal from the Golden Leo was received on the morning of July 9 east of the Danube estuary, near Romania's Sulina. After that, tracking data stops. Sulina is one of the routes used to export Ukrainian grain via Danube ports.
The strike came amid escalating hostilities in the Black and Azov seas. The day before, on July 18, Russian drones damaged three foreign civilian vessels in the port of Mykolaiv, killing two Ukrainians. Since early July, Ukraine has been striking Russian tankers, cargo ships and tugs in the Azov Sea. Commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi reported hitting more than 150 vessels. Moscow calls these attacks terrorism and piracy.
Russian authorities have not commented on the incident. Hours before Ukraine's navy report, Russia's defense ministry said its drones had attacked two bulk carriers at the Odesa port roadstead, as well as two more bulk carriers and a cargo ship near Snake Island, claiming the vessels were carrying military cargo or used to launch drones. There is no independent confirmation of this information.
Ukraine's new prime minister, Serhiy Koretsky, ordered the foreign ministry to inform the states whose citizens were affected and international partners. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that during President Volodymyr Zelensky's recent visit to London, he discussed with the leadership of the International Maritime Organization the deployment of a monitoring mission to Ukrainian ports, which he expects to begin work in the fall.