(Reuters) – A Russian missile strike damaged a civilian Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged vessel loaded with corn in the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi on Oct. 6, Ukraine’s restoration ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said on Facebook the 15 crew members were not injured.
“Fortunately none of the 15 crew members, citizens of Egypt and Syria, were injured. In total, the vessel was loaded with about 6,000 tons of Ukrainian corn. This is a completely civilian cargo,” it said.
The ministry said this was the 20th civilian vessel to be damaged by Russian attacks.
“This is nothing more than Russia’s attempts to influence the successful operation of the Ukrainian maritime food corridor and endanger global food security,” the ministry quoted deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba as saying.
Moscow has repeatedly denied it attacks civilian targets.
In early September, the Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged bulk carrier Aya was hit by a Russian missile in the Black Sea. Later in the month, another vessel, an Antigua-flagged carrier, was damaged in a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
Russia has struck the port repeatedly in the war since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Toby Chopra)
