Russian drones hit a Chinese ship as part of strikes on civilian vessels approaching Ukraine’s Odesa ports on the Black Sea on Monday, Ukrainian authorities said. The Ukrainian navy described the Ksl Deyang as a Chinese-owned cargo ship sailed by Chinese crew under the Marshall Islands flag. The Deyang was heading to load iron ore concentrate in Ukraine’s Pivdennyi port in the Odesa region, Reuters reported, citing a source. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said a Russian drone hit the Chinese-owned vessel. It reportedly sailed on after the attack.
Ukraine’s seaports authority said another ship sailing under the Guinea-Bissau flag was hit, while the Odesa governor, Oleh Kiper, said separately that a Russian attack hit a Panama-flagged civilian vessel heading to Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port. No one was injured, the crew extinguished the resulting fire and the vessel continued on its way.
Ukraine has observed attempts by Russia to export grain from occupied Crimea involving US companies, Zelenskyy said. “In particular, we have recorded attempts to organise the export of grain from the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea – and, regrettably, other forms of economic exploitation of the peninsula involving entities from the United States.” Zelenskyy said Moscow was also trying to bring investment from “democratic countries” into Russia’s Arctic oil and gas projects.
