Ukraine War05 October, 20262 min read
Zelenskyy Blames Russian Drones for Sinking Turkish-Owned Grain Ship Royad Mammadov in Black Sea
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Two crew members died after Russian drones attacked the Turkish-owned grain ship Royad Mammadov. Zelenskyy blamed Russian drones for the sinking, calling it a horrific strike.
Royad Mammadov sinks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russian drones for the sinking of the Turkish-owned grain ship Royad Mammadov in the Black Sea, after Romania reported a fire and two crew members killed near its coast. Romania’s Interior Ministry said Coast Guard border police officers were informed at around 11:00 am that a fire had broken out on board a commercial vessel located within Romania’s exclusive economic zone, and the ministry said 11 crew members were rescued and two bodies recovered.
Romanian Naval Authority spokesperson Irina Puscasu told AFP that three crew members suffered injuries and eight were unharmed, and authorities said the injured were evacuated by helicopter. Zelenskyy said the strike involved two Russian drones and described it as a civilian vessel in neutral waters carrying corn, while AFP reported the ship was 139-metre (455 foot) long and that the interior ministry said it sank about 30 nautical miles south of the fishing port of Sfantu Gheorghe.
Competing accounts and rescue
Zelenskyy wrote on X that the attack was "a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel in neutral waters carrying corn," and he added that Azerbaijani and Indian nationals were on board. Romania reported two people had died and 11 were rescued after the ship caught fire and sank in its waters, and the BBC said Romania mounted a rescue mission after "a fire on the ship Royad Mammadov" outside the country's territorial waters.
Zelenskyy said the ship's captain was killed in the strike and that another sailor was unaccounted for, while the interior ministry recovered two bodies and said 11 were rescued. Russia has not commented on the incident, but its defence ministry earlier said it had struck two cargo vessels, leaving the cause and attribution contested even as Romanian authorities confirmed the fire and sinking.
Black Sea stakes
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had repeatedly proposed concrete steps to de-escalate the situation and ensure security in the Black Sea, and he added that "pressure is needed to restore global food security" after the sinking of the corn-carrying vessel. Turkey’s Chamber of Maritime Commerce (IMEAK) said that since the start of the war, 226 civilian and commercial vessels have been attacked in the Black Sea, the vast majority this year, and it said Turkey expressed concern over attacks on Black Sea shipping and Turkish seafarers.
Russia has been pounding Ukrainian infrastructure in what it says is retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries and ships in the Black Sea, and it noted that Monday’s attack targeted "a civilian vessel in neutral waters carrying corn and owned by Turkey". The BBC also said hybrid warfare incidents blamed on Russia have surged in recent months, and it quoted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying his country was preparing for further hybrid attacks, "including serious ones," after a drone armed with explosives was found on the tarmac at Leipzig airport.