Russian forces on Friday struck two cargo ships, killing one crew member and injuring others, amid Kyiv's allegations of Moscow committing "acts of terror" on civilian shipping in and out of Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian Deputy PM Oleksii Kuleba, the two attacked vessels were "civilian" ones, and were attacked at two different ports within the country's maritime export corridor, causing a lot of damage.
The first vessel to be attacked was the Wael K (IMO: 9001148), a general cargo vessel sailing under the flag of St Kitts and Nevis, which was en route to the Port of Chornomorsk.
The vessel was allegedly headed for grain cargo loading operations at the port when it was attacked by a drone.
The second ship that was attacked was the Ladonna (IMO: 9107033), a bulk carrier flying under the flag of Comoros.
This vessel had been transporting soybeans to the Port of Odesa, when it was struck too, which led to the death—a Syrian national, who had been the ship's second mate, as per a Maritime Executive report.
The attacks were part of a Russian offensive overnight into Friday morning—said to be the largest so far in the four-year-old war—and only the second time since then that it used its Oreshnik hypersonic missile.
Seen as a major attempt to intimidate Ukraine's allies, the strike comprising hundreds of drones and the Oreshnik missile led to the deaths of four people in Kyiv, cut off power in the capital city, and also reportedly damaged the Qatari embassy there.
Moscow said it fired the Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) in response to an alleged drone attack attempted on one of Putin's residences last month.
However, Ukraine has denied a role in the attempted attack, while the US has claimed that no such attempt had even taken place.
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