Russia launches missile strikes on civilian ship in Black Sea, killing at least 10 civilians onboard (updated)

Russian forces launched a missile strike on a Guinea-Bissau-flagged civilian vessel carrying a cargo of grain in the Black Sea off the coast of Odesa. Russians killed 10 people.

“Russian occupiers struck the civilian cargo ship GOLDEN Leo (Guinea-Bissau flag, Turkish owner) with three Kh-59/Kh-69 cruise missiles, which, at the time of the attack, was leaving the combat zone with a cargo of grain. The hit struck the starboard side of the superstructure, sparking a fire on board. […] The technical condition of the vessel is being assessed,” the Ukrainian Navy stated. 

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi and acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reported that seventeen Syrian and Indian nationals and a Ukrainian maritime pilot were aboard the Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel. The Ukrainian pilot was killed in the strike.

Units of the Ukrainian Navy and the Maritime Search and Rescue Service were deployed to assist.

As of 8:30 p.m., eight crew members had been evacuated to a hospital in Odesa.

“This is yet another targeted Russian strike on an unarmed civilian vessel under a foreign flag that posed no military threat. The attack is an act of terror against peaceful shipping and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” the Navy said.

On 18 July, Russians killed two people and injured four others, including a child, in their strikes on residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Odesa Oblast, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Oblast Military Administration. Kiper also said that some fishermen’s huts have been destroyed and six cars have been damaged as a result of a Russian missile striking the premises of an amusement park.

Previously, ZMINA reported that the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) failed to reach a decision on 15 July, regarding the adoption of the EU’s new 21st sanctions package against Russia, because Greece opposed this decision.

Human rights organisations and Ukrainian authorities emphasise that structural economic pressure remains a key tool to halt such atrocities. They urge every nation and individual government worldwide to strictly enforce global sanctions, close existing regulatory loopholes, and completely sever remaining commercial and technological ties with the Russian Federation. Civil society groups stress that any continued cooperation by foreign businesses directly contributes to the resources Moscow uses to sustain its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

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