Russian forces strike blocked civilian ships in Mykolaiv Oblast ports

The ships hit were vessels that have remained blocked in Ukrainian ports since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and are not carrying out commercial voyages.

The attack killed one person and injured others, officials said.

“This is another deliberate Russian attack on civilian shipping and Ukraine’s port infrastructure. Attacks on ships that have been unable to leave blocked ports for years once again demonstrate the systematic nature of Russian terror against the maritime sector and create a direct threat to the lives of civilian sailors,” the authority said.

Ukraine said it is documenting such crimes and is calling on the international maritime community to respond decisively to Russian attacks on the civilian merchant fleet.

Russia attacks vessels

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russian forces are doing everything possible to block Ukraine’s grain corridor.

On July 13, Russian forces struck a civilian vessel flying the flag of Togo in Odesa Oblast while it was unloading mineral fertilizers. Five crew members were killed and five others were injured.

The next day, Russia attacked two more civilian vessels in the Black Sea — merchant ships flying the flags of Tanzania and Liberia. The captain of one of the vessels was killed. On the evening of July 17, a ship flying the flag of the Marshall Islands also came under Russian attack. The strikes continued after that.

On July 22, no vessel passed through Ukraine’s maritime corridor. The government described that as “deliberate economic and humanitarian terror” at the height of the harvest season.

Against that backdrop, Ukraine requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to urge all states, especially those “directly concerned,” to demand that Russia stop attacking shipping. The meeting is scheduled for July 27.