A cargo ship carrying wheat sank in the Sea of Azov after coming under attack from Ukrainian drones, a Russia-installed official said on Sunday, leaving one person dead and two missing.
Vladimir Saldo, Moscow-installed leader of the Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Kherson region, said the attack occurred on Friday but crew members were unable to make known what had happened to them until Sunday.
"It became known that the reason for the sinking of the Volgo-Balt in the Sea of Azov was a terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime," Saldo wrote on Telegram.
He said the crew abandoned ship and was only able to reach shore on Sunday near the village of Strilkove in Kherson region.
He said an aide to the captain had died and two people were unaccounted for, adding that an investigation into the incident was under way. The captain was recovering in a hospital.
"This is, unfortunately, not the first instance of Ukraine attacking a merchant ship in neutral waters. There will be a response to this crime," Saldo said.
In an earlier post, he said nine crew members had been found alive on the shore - all Russian nationals.
Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia in 2022, more than six months after Moscow's invasion. Russian forces hold a little more than 70% of the two regions, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in the south.
ZELENSKIY PLEDGES SECURITY COOPERATION WITH TURKEY
After meeting with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday in Istanbul, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for greater co-operation between the two countries. Kyiv is seeking to capitalize its wartime experience on an international stage.
Zelenskiy stated that he and the Turkish President had agreed on "new steps" to be taken in the security cooperation, and that the teams would finalise details soon.
"This is especially true in the areas where we can help Turkey: expertise and technology," he wrote via Telegram.
Erdogan told Zelenskiy that Turkey would support the negotiations between Ukraine Russia to end war.
Zelenskiy stated that the two leaders discussed opportunities for co-operation in joint gas projects and joint field development.
TURKEY WANTS MARITIME SAFETY ON BLACK SEA
The first peace talks were held in 2022 by Turkey, a NATO country that had maintained close ties with both sides. This was the only such meeting until Donald Trump, U.S. president, launched a renewed effort to stop the fighting last year.
The presidency stated that at the Saturday meeting in Istanbul Erdogan informed Zelenskiy of the importance Turkey attaches to the maritime safety of the Black Sea, and the security energy supplies.
A marine drone caused an explosion near Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait in the Black Sea last week after it struck a crude oil tanker which had left Russia. Turkey condemned this incident. This was one of several incidents that occurred in the past few months, involving vessels sanctioned by the West and heading towards or from Russian ports in Black Sea.
Ukraine recently signed agreements on security cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, and it says that it is currently in discussions with other Middle Eastern countries about similar arrangements.
Ukraine is leveraging its experience in countering drones acquired during its four-year war with Russia.
Since the February 2022 invasion, Moscow has been using drones of Iranian design to strike Ukraine.
BALTIC PORT RESUMES LOADING
Russia's key Baltic port of Ust-Luga resumed crude loading after days of disruptions amid multiple Ukrainian drone attacks in the region, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
The Jewel, an Aframax-class vessel, began a cargo loading on Saturday, the report said, citing shipping information seen by Bloomberg.
Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga in late March for the fifth time in 10 days, and industry sources told Reuters that the drones struck crude oil loading facilities operated by Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Transneft did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
At least 40% of Russia's oil export capacity has been disrupted by drone attacks, a disputed strike on a major pipeline and the seizure of tankers, Reuters reported last month citing calculations based on market data.
(Reuters)
