Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have repeatedly hit foreign-flagged civilian merchant vessels over the past week, killing at least seven people and wounding eight more in a series of attacks that has increased risks for commercial shipping serving Ukraine.
On the morning of July 17, Russian forces used attack drones against port infrastructure in Mykolaiv, damaging three foreign-flagged civilian vessels and killing two Ukrainian citizens aboard one of them, according to the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, which opened a war-crimes investigation into the deaths.
A separate strike that day killed another person in Odesa, Ukraine’s largest seaport. Later that evening, a missile hit port infrastructure elsewhere in the Odesa region, damaging a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel and injuring four of its 17 crew members, according to Reuters, citing regional officials. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had struck port facilities in Odesa and Chornomorsk, describing the targets as supporting Ukrainian military logistics. The ministry did not comment on Ukrainian reports that civilian merchant vessels had been damaged in the attacks.
Overnight into July 18, Ukraine’s Air Force reported guided air-to-surface missiles launched from the Black Sea toward Pivdenne in the Odesa region. As of publication, Ukrainian authorities had not reported confirmed casualties or damage. Russia’s Defence Ministry separately claimed it had struck Odesa port infrastructure and merchant vessels carrying what it described as military cargo. That claim was carried by Russian state media but had not been independently confirmed by Ukrainian authorities or international news organizations.
The July 17 attack was not the first involving a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel this month. On July 14, a Russian drone struck a different Marshall Islands-flagged ship moored in the Odesa region, damaging its superstructure and killing two people, according to Odesa Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper. Earlier the same day, separate Russian strikes hit merchant vessels flying the flags of Tanzania and Liberia, killing the Tanzanian-flagged vessel’s captain and wounding three crew members.
The attacks followed a July 13 strike on a Togolese-flagged cargo ship in the Odesa region that killed three crew members and wounded five while the vessel was unloading mineral fertilizer. Kiper accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian shipping in violation of international humanitarian law, an allegation Moscow has not addressed directly, maintaining that its strikes target military-linked port infrastructure.
The attacks illustrate how Russia can disrupt Ukraine’s maritime trade without imposing a formal naval blockade. Repeated strikes on ports and foreign merchant vessels raise insurance costs, increase commercial risk and threaten grain exports even when shipping lanes remain technically open.
