kyiv claims that this Turkish bulk carrier which was transporting grain was hit on Sunday by three Russian missiles “as it was leaving the combat zone”. Four other crew members are missing.
A merchant ship belonging to Turkey was hit by three Russian missiles in the Black Sea on Sunday July 19, and six of its occupants were killed, announced the Ukrainian navy and Ukrainian Prime Minister Serguii Koretsky. The fate of four other crew members remains unknown. The bulk carrier, which was flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau and carrying cereals, was hit “as he was leaving the combat zone”according to the navy, which specified that eight sailors were evacuated to a hospital in Odessa.
The Ukrainian navy denounced a “Russia’s new deliberate attack on an unarmed civilian ship flying a foreign flag”which according to her constitutes “an act of terrorism”. “Russia is committing war crimes and undermining the security of the Black Sea”declared Serguii Koretsky for his part.
The crew was made up of 17 men of Syrian and Indian nationality, as well as a Ukrainian captain, the Ukrainian Minister of Transport detailed in the evening. The Ukrainian captain is among the victims. “While the world still reacts to Russia’s brutal nighttime attack on kyiv, Moscow continues its campaign of terror throughout the day”commented the interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriï Sybiga.
Port infrastructure regularly targeted
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, the Russian army fired around twenty ballistic missiles at kyiv, killing one person and injuring 16 others, the day after deadly Ukrainian attacks against Russia. Moscow’s forces regularly bomb Ukrainian port infrastructure, particularly in the Odessa region.
Thus, on Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities announced that Russian attacks on a civilian ship in a port in the Odessa region and on two other boats sailing in the Black Sea had left three people dead. For their part, Ukrainian forces have in recent days stepped up their attacks on ships in the Sea of Azov, a maritime area which constitutes an important transport route for Russian agricultural products.
On Thursday, the Turkish foreign minister said in kyiv that his country did not want to see the war between Ukraine and Russia spread to the Black Sea region, indicating that he “intensified contacts” with the two countries for a resumption of negotiations.
Source: Franceinfo
:quality(50)/2026/07/19/6a5d199971ce8842060745.jpg&description=Six+sailors+killed+in+Russian+strikes+on+Turkish-owned+merchant+ship+in+Black+Sea%2C+Ukraine+says){kind=link}