A Turkish ship carrying corn was attacked by Russian drones: the captain was killed

Russian drones attacked a civilian vessel flying the Turkish flag that was transporting corn in the neutral waters of the Black Sea. The ship’s captain was killed in the attack, and one other person is missing.

This was reported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to him, there were citizens of Azerbaijan and India on board. Eleven crew members were rescued, one of whom was injured.

Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine has repeatedly proposed concrete steps to de-escalate tensions and ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. He added that similar proposals have also come from third countries.

The president accused Russia of “consistently choosing terror and the sinking of civilian vessels over normal maritime navigation” and called for increased pressure to restore global food security.

For its part, the Romanian news outletDigi24, citing official data, reports that an emergency signal was received by the Maritime Coordination Center for Rescue Operations at 10:37 a.m. on Monday, October 5.

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According to preliminary data, the vessel was approximately 20 nautical miles off the Romanian coast and 9 nautical miles from the “Pescăruș” oil platform. 

Initial reports indicated that 13 crew members were missing and the captain had been injured. 

Later, the Romanian Ministry of the Interior clarified that 11 crew members had been rescued and two people had died.

Recently, a motorman was killed as a result of a Russian strike on a civilian cargo ship flying the Liberian flag in one of the ports in the Odesa region. Three other crew members were injured. 

Earlier, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority reported other Russian attacks on ships in the Black Sea. Specifically, on the night of September 23, the occupiers struck a cargo ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. The ship’s captain was killed. The attack caused a fire. The crew was evacuated by the Ukrainian Navy, and the fire was extinguished.

Андрій Колісніченко