In the Black Sea, Russian drones attacked three merchant vessels bound for ports in the Odesa region, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba and regional administration head Oleh Kiper.
Kuleba said two of the ships were damaged. One of them, sailing under the Panamanian flag, caught fire after the strike. A 58-year-old cook, a citizen of Egypt, was killed on board.
The Ukrainian Navy later specified that the vessel was the bulk carrier Victress, owned by a Turkish company. Kuleba said the ship sustained heavy damage and was no longer seaworthy.
According to the Ukrainian side, eight crew members left the vessel on a life raft. Those evacuated reportedly included citizens of Turkey and India.
Kuleba also said that Russian forces struck two other merchant ships sailing under the flags of Palau and Belize. He said there were no casualties in those incidents.
The reports about the attack came from Ukrainian officials and the military. The published information describes the consequences of the strike for foreign civilian vessels heading toward ports in the Odesa region.