Four Indian nationals were among 10 people killed in an alleged Russian cruise missile strike on a cargo ship leaving Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa over the weekend.
India’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the vessel, MV Golden Leo, was attacked on Sunday evening just as it was departing Odesa with 17 crew members, including five Indians.
The surviving Indian crew member was critically injured, the foreign ministry added.
The Ukrainian navy alleged that the vessel, flying the Guinea-Bissau flag and owned by a Turkish company, was targeted by Russian forces with three cruise missiles.
Ten people were killed, including a Ukrainian pilot, Ukraine’s Sea Ports Authority said after launching a search and rescue operation.
The ship was leaving Ukraine’s maritime corridor carrying grain when it was struck, the Ukrainian navy said.
India’s foreign ministry condemned the attack, calling the targeting of civilian crew members “deplorable”.
“As per information available, four Indian nationals have tragically lost their lives while one is hospitalised in a critical condition. Our mission in Ukraine is closely monitoring the situation and is making every effort to extend all possible assistance to those affected,” it said in a statement.
“India condemns such attacks,” it added, “and reiterates that targeting commercial shipping and endangering innocent civilian crew members or otherwise impeding freedom of navigation and commerce is deplorable and should be avoided.”
According to the Ukrainian navy, the missiles struck the starboard side of the vessel and sparked a fire.
The ports authority said the rescue operation continued through the night into Monday, the blaze was brought under control, and eight people were rescued.
Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, condemned the attack, noting that it came just hours after Russia’s overnight missile and drone assault on Kyiv.
“While the world is still responding to Russia’s brutal overnight attack on Kyiv, Moscow continues its campaign of terror throughout the day,” Mr Sybiha said on social media.
Akhil Joyan, a 26-year-old seafarer from the southern Indian state of Kerala, was among those killed.
Joyan, who had worked as a mariner for six years, held the world record for the most rope pull-ups in half a minute, according to the Indian Express.
India has more than 300,000 seafarers employed globally, according to government data, making it one of the largest suppliers of merchant shipping workforces in the world.
Indian seafarers have been hit hard by the US-Israeli war on Iran as well as the Russian war against Ukraine. At least 10 Indian crew members have been killed in separate attacks on ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman since the war in the Middle East began earlier this year.
