A civilian ship flying the flag of the Marshall Islands was damaged during a Russian attack on port infrastructure in the Odessa region. The vessel’s superstructure was hit, leading to a fire. All 17 crew members were evacuated, with four sustaining injuries, but no hospitalization was required.
This incident was described by officials as another targeted strike against peaceful civilians and maritime activity.
Mykola Kalashnyk, the former head of the Kyiv regional state administration and current Ukrainian Minister for Restoration, Infrastructure, and Transport, condemned the attack. He stated, “Deliberate strikes on civilian port infrastructure and the commercial fleet are further evidence that Russia is willfully ignoring international law. Such attacks threaten not only Ukraine but also global shipping security and world supply chains.”
This is the second incident involving a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel in just a few days. On July 14, a Russian drone struck another civilian ship, causing a fire and resulting in the deaths of two people. On the same day, Russian forces attacked two commercial vessels in the Black Sea that were sailing under the flags of Tanzania and Liberia.
