Ten killed as Russian attacks on Black Sea merchant ships intensify

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a cargo ship off the Ukrainian port of Odesa has risen to 10, according to the BBC ( The Ukrainian Air Force said the Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel, the Golden Leo, was hit by Russian cruise missiles on Sunday, sparking a fire and triggering an overnight search-and-rescue operation. Nine crew members and one pilot from Ukraine's seaports authority were killed, the country's seaports authority said on Monday, the BBC reported ( The strike was the deadliest of its kind on the foreign-flagged merchant ships that sustain Ukraine's last remaining maritime export corridor. The Odesa region has come under sustained Russian attack in recent weeks, with 28 people killed in strikes in July alone, Odesa governor Oleh Kiper told Ukrainian TV on Monday, according to the BBC ( The escalation appears aimed at deterring foreign companies from using the Black Sea corridor, which carries more than two-thirds of Ukrainian agricultural exports worth roughly $9bn (£6.7bn) — a vital revenue source for Kyiv. Ukraine's Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said on Sunday that the government and military command were "preparing decisions that will enhance the safety of navigation and help protect civilian vessels and seafarers" from Russian attacks, the BBC reported ( Kyiv has also stepped up its own strikes on Russian assets, with drone forces commander Robert Brovdi saying 183 vessels were struck in July — a figure the BBC noted has not been independently verified. *Source Reporters corrects errors promptly. Report corrections to corrections@sourcereporters.com.*