A Russian missile strike has caused damage to infrastructure and an Antigua-flagged civilian vessel in the Ukrainian port of Odesa, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper on Friday. The airstrike resulted in four injuries, as Kiper reported via the Telegram messaging app.
Preliminary assessments indicate that debris from an Iskander-M missile impacted both port facilities and the civilian ship. The Iskander-M is a ballistic missile capable of flying at several times the speed of sound and has a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles).
Source: REUTERS/Serhii Smolientsev
A source familiar with the situation revealed that the vessel was transporting metal products. Ship-tracking data identified the Antigua-flagged cargo ship as the Golden Lion, which was moored in Odesa at the time.
This incident is part of a series of strikes against the port, which have escalated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Last week, Ukraine accused Russia of targeting a civilian grain vessel traveling from Odesa to Egypt with a cruise missile near Romanian waters.
