Russia attacked a vessel in the Red Sea with Indians onboard was attacked by Russia, said Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was a Turkish vessel with Azerbaijani nationals also on board, while the captain has been killed.“A horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel in neutral waters, which was carrying corn and belonged to Türkiye. On board were citizens of Azerbaijan and India. As of now, regrettably, it is known that the ship’s captain has been killed. My condolences. The fate of one more person is still being clarified. Eleven crew members were rescued, one of them injured,” he said in a statement on X.“Ukraine has repeatedly proposed concrete steps to de-escalate the situation and ensure security in the Black Sea. There have also been relevant proposals from third countries. But Russia consistently chooses terror and sinking civilian vessels instead of normal maritime navigation. Pressure is needed to restore global food security. And everyone who is genuinely interested in this must help,” he added.The nationalisty of the captain killed or exactly how many Indians were onboard is not known yet.Romania’s Interior Ministry said its Coast Guard was alerted about the fire at around 11 am local time, after the vessel was reported in the country’s exclusive economic zone, about 30 nautical miles (55 km) south of Sfantul Gheorghe in Tulcea County.The ministry did not confirm what caused the fire. Romanian media reported that the vessel had been hit by a drone southeast of a Black Sea oil platform, but authorities did not immediately verify the reports, as reported by AP.Romania’s Naval Authority identified the vessel as the Royad Mammadov. According to MarineTraffic, it is a general cargo ship flagged to Saint Kitts and Nevis. The vessel had departed Ukraine’s port of Izmail and was headed for Italy.Romanian authorities said 11 crew members had been rescued and two deceased people had been found. Injured crew members were airlifted by helicopter for medical treatment.The incident comes amid heightened security concerns in the Black Sea since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Romania has previously scrambled fighter jets and deployed naval forces in response to threats in the waters near its coast.In August, Romania deployed two F-16 fighter jets to destroy a naval drone carrying explosives that was detected near the Neptun Deep gas platform. The Romanian defence ministry has also said its navy has destroyed nine drifting sea mines in the Black Sea since the start of the war.
