A Kerala sailor who was preparing to get married in two months was one of the four Indian crew members who were killed in a Russian attack on the cargo ship MV Golden Leo off the coast of the Ukrainian city of Odesa.
26-year-old Akhil Joyan, a Merchant Navy officer, was one of the nine crew members killed on the commercial vessels while departing the Odesa port.
Joyan was a native of Vellarikundu village in Kerala's Kasaragod district.
He was the only son of Joyan, who works at an electrical shop and Sally, who is an insurance agent. He had returned home on leave last month. He got engaged and rejoined duty only a month ago.
His death has left his family and home town in deep shock as he was preparing to get married, NDTV reported.
Akhil had been working as a mariner on the vessel for the past six years. He joined the merchant navy at the age of 19.
Shobi Joseph, a ward member of Vellarikkundu in the Balal grama panchayat, told news agency PTI, "They are an ordinary family, and their future depended largely on Akhil. They had recently constructed a house."
"He was known as a well-behaved and disciplined youngster...His marriage was scheduled to take place two months from now. The bride is from the Alappuzha district. He returned to work a month back," he said.
His family reportedly learnt of his death via an email from the shipping company.
Joyan was reportedly looking to change his job soon for a better future. He was well known in the locality and was a tug of war player.
In a statement, the Kerala Chief Minister's office said that it has directed the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) Department to coordinate with the Russian Consulate and the Ministry of External Affairs to gather more information following the Keralite's death in a Russian attack on the merchant vessel off Ukraine.
The three others were identified as Gurpreet Singh Bhatt, Jagan Singh, and Abhishek Nishad.
The cargo vessel was reportedly sailing under the flag of Guinea-Bissau when it was hit by Russian forces on Sunday. Five of the sailors killed were from Syria. Eight others were rescued from the ship, which was carrying Ukrainian corn.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal condemned the attack on the ship. Taking to X, he said, “India condemns such attacks and reiterates that targeting commercial shipping and endangering innocent civilian crew members, or otherwise impeding freedom of navigation and commerce, is deplorable and should be avoided."
“Our Mission in Ukraine is closely monitoring the situation and is making every effort to extend all possible assistance to those affected,” the ministry said, offering condolences to the families of the deceased seafarers.
The MEA also summoned Russian Charge d'Affaires (CDA) Vladimir Ladanov after the attack.
