Russian forces fired three Kh-59/Kh-69 cruise missiles at the civilian cargo ship Golden Leo as it was leaving the combat zone with a load of grain, according to a report by the Ukrainian Navy. The missiles hit the area near the ship’s superstructure on the starboard side, sparking a fire on board.
Five crew members were killed, and the fate of five others remains unknown. Eight sailors were evacuated to a hospital in Odesa.
The vessel sailed under the flag of Guinea-Bissau. Ukraine’s navy did not name the exact location of the attack, saying only that the cargo ship was “leaving the combat zone.” Russian authorities have not commented on the incident.
The Insider analyzed tracking data provided by the monitoring platform Starboard Maritime Intelligence, which showed that in the spring and early summer, the cargo ship sailed between ports in Turkey, Georgia, Syria, Greece, and Spain. It was in Barcelona from June 24 to 29, called at the Greek island of Syros on July 4, and arrived in Istanbul on July 6.
On the afternoon of July 7, the Golden Leo left Istanbul and headed north through the Black Sea. The crew listed the Romanian port of Sulina as its destination. The last signal was received on the morning of July 9 east of the Danube Delta, near Sulina. After that, data on the ship’s movements stop until the July 19 attack.
