Russia launches missile attack on cargo ship at Odessa port in Ukraine, killing 10

[Financial News] A cargo ship carrying corn was hit by Russian missile fire near the port of Odessa in southern Ukraine, killing 10 people, Ukrainian authorities said on the 20th local time. The incident was the deadliest of the recent armed clashes in the Black Sea region over the past few weeks.
AFP and other foreign media reported that a witness in Odessa saw smoke rising from a vessel near the coast on the 19th. An investigation later confirmed that the ship was the Golden Leo, a cargo vessel registered in Guinea-Bissau, Africa.
The Ukrainian Navy also announced on Telegram that "three Russian cruise missiles struck the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Golden Leo on the 19th, causing a fire." The vessel was carrying corn and had crew members from India and Syria on board.
The Ukraine Port Authority said overnight search and rescue operations were carried out, but 10 people were confirmed dead, including nine crew members and one Ukrainian maritime pilot. Of the 17 people on board, eight were rescued.
According to LSEG data, the Golden Leo is owned by Ocean Grace Shipping, which is based in Mumbai, India.
The Russian airstrikes were not limited to the sea. Serhii Lysak, head of the Odessa Regional Military Administration, said infrastructure facilities in Odessa city were hit in a separate missile attack, killing three people and injuring three others.
As a result, the number of civilians killed in the Odessa region by Russian attacks this month has risen to 28. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defence acknowledged the destruction of infrastructure, saying through Interfax that it had "successfully struck a fuel storage facility at Odessa port last night."
The Black Sea has been one of the main battlegrounds since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It briefly appeared to stabilize through agreements such as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which aimed to prevent a surge in global food prices and secure grain exports from both countries. But as both sides increasingly target each other's key sources of revenue, the region is once again turning into a powder keg.
As Ukrainian forces have recently intensified strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure, including oil tankers, Russia has responded with indiscriminate retaliatory airstrikes targeting Ukraine's deep-water ports and cargo ships.
Since both countries are major grain exporters, rising tensions along Black Sea shipping routes are expected to cause serious disruptions to the global food supply chain.
Experts warned that "if the military tit-for-tat between the two countries over Black Sea shipping routes escalates, volatility in global grain prices could rise once again."
[email protected] Yoon Jae-jun Reporter