Russian drones hit civilian merchant ships heading to Ukrainian ports, killing a foreign citizen.
Points of attention
- Russian drones targeted foreign ships in the grain corridor heading to Ukrainian ports, resulting in casualties and significant damage to vessels.
- The Ukrainian Navy successfully conducted a rescue operation to evacuate crew members from the affected ships.
Russia used drones to strike foreign ships heading to Ukraine
This was reported by the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A massive fire broke out on the Turkish cargo ship VICTRESS (Panama flag) after an enemy UAV struck it. There were nine crew members on board — citizens of Egypt, Turkey and India.
Given the difficult situation and the threat of further spread of the fire, the crews of the Ukrainian Navy boats successfully conducted a rescue operation to evacuate the crew of the dry cargo vessel, however, "there are casualties among them."
Later, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction — Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba clarified that on the night of June 22, two civilian merchant ships heading to Ukrainian ports were hit by a Russian drone attack.
According to him, a drone strike caused a fire on a Panamanian-flagged vessel. A crew member, a 58-year-old cook and citizen of Egypt, died.
Eight sailors, including Turkish and Indian nationals, were forced to evacuate on a life raft. The vessel suffered significant damage and was unseaworthy.
Also that night, the Russians attacked ships flying the flags of Palau and Belize. There were no injuries, and the damaged ships continued their journey.
This is yet another war crime by Russia. Attacks on merchant shipping and humanitarian shipping routes are a direct threat to global food and economic security and require a decisive response from the international community.
Oleksiy Kuleba
Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery — Minister for Community and Territorial Development
