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Russian Drones Sink Civilian Corn Ship Inside Romania’s Exclusive Economic Zone
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![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
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Russian drones sank the Turkish-operated cargo ship Royad Mammadov carrying Ukrainian corn in the Black Sea on October 5, killing two crew members.
Militarnyi reported the sinking, citing Romania’s Interior Ministry and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy stated that two Russian drones struck the civilian vessel in neutral waters.
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"A horrific attack by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel in neutral waters that was carrying corn and belonged to Türkiye," Zelenskyy wrote.
The crew included citizens of Azerbaijan and India. Zelenskyy initially reported that the ship’s captain had been killed and another person’s fate remained unknown, while 11 crew members were rescued and one was injured.
Romania’s Interior Ministry later confirmed that rescuers had identified two deceased people and saved 11 crew members. Romanian authorities launched the operation after receiving a report of a fire aboard the vessel around 11:00.
The incident occurred in Romania’s exclusive economic zone, approximately 30 nautical miles south of Sfântu Gheorghe. Romanian Coast Guard vessels and an aviation inspectorate helicopter took part in the search-and-rescue operation.
Royad Mammadov had departed Ukraine carrying grain and was heading to the Italian port of Ravenna. The vessel had sailed from the Ukrainian Danube port of Izmail in mid-September before entering the Black Sea on October 3.
The sinking came amid further Russian attacks on commercial shipping. On October 6, Odesa regional authorities reported that a Russian drone damaged a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel carrying rapeseed oil, killing one person and injuring seven.
The Royad Mammadov was not the first foreign-flagged merchant vessel to come under Russian attack in recent weeks.
On September 23, an overnight Russian strike hit a civilian cargo ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda in the Black Sea, setting it ablaze and killing its captain, a Ukrainian citizen. The Ukrainian Navy evacuated the surviving crew members and extinguished the fire.
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