Russia Strikes Cargo Ship in Ukrainian Port of Yuzhny

A Russian missile strike damaged a civilian vessel at the port of Yuzhny, Ukraine overnight Saturday, according to Ukrainian state media and the Russian ministry of defense. 

The attack on the ship reportedly involved an Iskander-M missile. In hazy infrared UAV footage captured at the scene, the missile is shown approaching the target, followed by a large blast. Russian state media claimed that the video showed a secondary explosion of a cargo of ammunition. 

Russia claimed that the vessel was carrying a cargo of European-origin armament for the Ukrainian military. 

Russia says they struck a container ship in Odessa that was delivering ammunition to Ukraine pic.twitter.com/S7q5WnXGoV

— Preston Stewart (@prestonstew_) October 6, 2024

The name of the vessel was not disclosed, but the head of the Odesa region, Oleg Kiper, confirmed that no crewmembers aboard the ship had been injured. It was the third Russian attack on a civilian vessel in the Black Sea region in a month (though a previous strike may well have been accidental).

In simultaneous strikes, Russian drones damaged a gas pipeline, cargo trucks and a warehouse buildings. The attack went on for hours and involved about 90 drones in multiple waves. Targets in Kyiv were also hit in the same attack. 

One warehouse security guard was injured in the UAV attack and was hospitalized.  

Russian forces have repeatedly struck Ukrainian-bound shipping, but not always intentionally, according to UK military intelligence. A September 11 strike on the bulker Aya was "almost certainly" a mistake, according to UK Defence Intelligence. The vessel was hit by an AS-4 anti-ship missile launched by a Russian bomber and was likely the victim of "poor targeting procedures from Russian pilots." The bomber was likely attempting to hit a ground target along Ukraine's coastline or on Snake Island, but ended up striking the Aya instead. It is possible that the aging weapon did not detonate, according to the UK MOD.