6 Syrian sailors killed in Russian strike on ship near Ukraine’s Odesa
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Six Syrian sailors were killed and others injured after a Russian missile strike targeted a cargo vessel carrying corn near Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa, according to Ukrainian officials, Syria’s Tartus Media Directorate, and a source familiar with the incident who spoke to North Press.
The strike on July 19 hit the Golden Leo, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel manned by Indian and Syrian crew members, according to Ukraine’s navy. The attack killed 10 people in total, making it the deadliest incident in a weeks-long escalation of violence in the Black Sea, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian navy said the vessel was struck by three cruise missiles, causing a fire onboard.
A Reuters witness in Odesa reported seeing smoke rising from a vessel off the coast on July 19. Reuters later confirmed that the vessel was the Golden Leo.
The Tartus Media Directorate mourned the Syrian sailors on Monday, identifying five of them as Mustafa Ammar, Ayman Deifallah, Rakan Bashara, Yasser Santli, and Mohammad al-Baghdadi, while wishing those injured a speedy recovery.
A source familiar with the incident told North Press that a sixth sailor who was wounded in the attack later died from his injuries.
“The Tartus Governorate mourns the death of a number of Syrian sailors while performing their duties in the commercial maritime transport sector at Ukrainian ports and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured,” the directorate said in a Facebook post.
The directorate said the targeted vessel and its crew were Syrian.
On Monday, Syria’s General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs condemned attacks on commercial vessels carrying Syrian sailors and crews at Ukrainian ports and nearby maritime areas in the Black Sea, saying the attacks had killed and injured several Syrian sailors.
Targeting civilian commercial vessels and their crews constitutes a serious violation of international and international humanitarian law and poses a direct threat to the safety of international maritime navigation and workers in the maritime transport sector, the authority said in a statement.
It also warned that such attacks could have serious repercussions for global trade and supply chains.
The strike comes amid renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea, where vessels transporting agricultural commodities and other goods have increasingly faced security risks linked to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.