Russia Attacks Two Civilian Cargo Ships in Black Sea, Killing Captain and Injuring Three

Russian forces attacked two civilian merchant ships in the Black Sea on July 14, killing the captain of one vessel.

This was reported by Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, on his official Telegram channel on July 14.

Both ships were moving through Ukraine's maritime corridor when they were hit, according to Kiper. One sailed under the flag of Tanzania, the other under the flag of Liberia.

The captain killed was aboard the Tanzania-flagged vessel, Suspilne, additionally reported. Three other crew members were injured in the attack.

Eleven sailors from one of the ships were evacuated ashore, Kiper confirmed.

"The enemy continues to deliberately target civilian vessels in the waters of the Black Sea," he wrote. Kiper described each such strike as "a war crime against civilians, civilian shipping, and global food security."

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The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority noted that the attack came on the fifth day of Russian strikes against the port infrastructure ofGreater Odesa  and against civilian shipping. Nine people have fallen victim since that wave began, the authority added.

"These strikes are a direct threat to the safety of international shipping, freedom of maritime navigation, and global food security," the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority stated.

The strike extends a run of deadly attacks on ships serving Ukrainian ports. On July 13, a Russian strike hit a Togo-flagged vessel unloading mineral fertilizers at a port in the Odesa region, killing three crew members and injuring five.

On June 22, drones struck three foreign-flagged ships in the corridor, killing a 58-year-old Egyptian sailor aboard a Panama-flagged carrier and forcing eight others onto a life raft.

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