Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian drone attack caused a fire on board a commercial vessel that later sank in the Black Sea on Monday.
Romanian news channels reported that the ship was a Turkish vessel carrying grain and had been struck by a drone southeast of a Black Sea oil platform. The ministry did not identify the cause of the fire. Authorities did not confirm those reports. “Eleven crew members have been rescued.
Two people died and 11 crew members were rescued, Romanian authorities said. Romania’s Coast Guard was alerted at around 11 am local time, the Interior Ministry said. The vessel was in Romania ‘s exclusive economic zone, about 30 nautical miles (55 kilometres) south of Sfantul Gheorghe in Tulcea County. Last month, Romania deployed two Romanian F-16 fighter jets to destroy a naval drone that was carrying explosives and was spotted near the Neptun Deep gas platform.
In a post on X, Zelensky described the attack as “a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel” in neutral waters. He said the vessel was Turkish-owned and carrying corn. Two dead individuals have also been located,” the ministry said, adding that a helicopter had airlifted injured people using a winch so they could receive emergency medical care. Romanian Naval Forces have destroyed nine drifting sea mines in the Black Sea since the war started, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
