Russian Strike on Cargo Ship Kills 10 Near Odesa

A Russian strike on a cargo ship off the coast of Odesa has killed at least 10 people, Ukrainian officials said, as attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea intensify.

The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship, the Golden Leo, was hit by Russian cruise missiles on Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said. A fire broke out after the impact, prompting a search and rescue operation that continued overnight.

By Monday morning, Ukraine’s seaports authority said nine crew members had died, along with one of its pilots. India later said four Indian nationals were among those killed in the attack. Ukraine’s Odesa region has faced sustained shelling in recent weeks.

Toll in the Odesa region rises

In July alone, 28 people were killed in Russian strikes across the Odesa region, regional head Oleh Kiper said in an interview with Ukrainian television on Monday.

The Golden Leo attack was the deadliest strike on a cargo ship in the Black Sea reported on Sunday, according to Ukrainian statements.

Among the victims were four Indian nationals, India’s foreign ministry said. It added that endangering crew members or creating “impending freedom of navigation” was deplorable and should be avoided.

Role of the Black Sea export route

Foreign-flagged vessels such as the Golden Leo use Ukraine’s last remaining maritime export corridor. Cargo is transported via routes along the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts before continuing to Turkey.

Ukraine’s maritime exports account for more than two-thirds of its agricultural exports, worth about $9bn (£6.7bn), providing Kyiv with a major source of revenue.

For much of the past four and a half years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began, fighting in the Black Sea has largely produced a stalemate. Ukrainian ships have not been able to move beyond the area around Odesa because Russia controls much of the coastline, but Kyiv has used drones to force Moscow to keep naval assets based in the eastern Black Sea.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said on Sunday that the government and the military command were preparing measures to improve the safety of navigation and to protect civilian vessels and seafarers.

Other strikes across Ukraine and abroad

Russian strikes elsewhere in Ukraine killed five people in separate attacks on eastern and southern cities on Monday, officials said.

The UN reported that June saw the highest number of Ukrainian civilians killed and injured since April 2022. It said at least 293 civilians were killed and 1,990 injured.

In parallel, Ukraine continued strikes on Russian logistics targets and an oil depot in the Moscow region. Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of Moscow, said Kyiv launched 400 drones overnight Monday, adding that most were shot down. Russian local authorities later said 10 people were injured as a result.

In Russia’s Belgorod region, local authorities said a Ukrainian drone strike on a bus killed five people, including a child, on Monday. Ukraine has not yet commented.

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21 July 2026