Russia launches attack on Palau-flagged cargo ship heading to Ukrainian port of Izmail
On August 13, Russia resorted to an attack on the civilian dry cargo ship "Sukra Okan" under the flag of Palau in the Black Sea, which was heading to the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported this.
The occupiers boasted in their report that they opened fire on the ship with automatic small arms and also used a helicopter.
The Russian agency said that the attack took place early in the morning on August 13. Just then, around 6:40 a.m., the patrol ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet "Vasily Bykov" detected the dry cargo ship "Sukra Okan" under the flag of Palau, which was heading to the Ukrainian port of Izmail, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation added.
Representatives of Russia, which has decided it has the right to "exercise navigation control" in the Black Sea, ordered the dry cargo to stop for inspection.
The captain of the dry cargo did not respond to the request to stop for an inspection of the subject of transportation of prohibited cargo. The Russian warship opened warning fire from an automatic small-arms weapon to force the vessel to stop.
"A Ka-29 helicopter with a group of Russian servicemen was raised from the board of the patrol ship "Vasily Bykov" to inspect the dry cargo ship," the ministry said.
After the attack, the ship had to stop.
"According to the results of radio communications, the ship stopped moving; the inspection team landed on a dry cargo ship. After the inspection team completed its work on board the Sukra Okan, the ship continued to head to the port of Izmail. The ships of the Black Secontinuedcontinue patrolling in the designated areas," once again Russia boasted of a war crime.
The ship attacked by the invaders left the Greek port of Halkida on August 7. It was supposed to arrive in Izmail on August 14.
It should be noted that the patrol ship "Vasily Bykov," which attacked a civilian vessel, has been involved in the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine since February 24, 2022. In particular, together with the sunken flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, the cruiser "Moskva," it participated in the attack on the Ukrainian island of Zmiiny.
Photo: Wikipedia
On August 4, 2022, Ukrainian soldiers attacked this Russian patrol ship. It had 8 Kalibr cruise missiles on board. The next day, it was captured while entering Sevastopol Bay in the occupied Crimea. The starboard side of "Vasily Bykova" and the launcher were burned in the stern area. At 09:30, the ship was moored near Kurina Pier with the help of tugboats.
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It should be noted that on July 17, the Kremlin refused to extend the "grain agreement." The press secretary of the Russian dictator Dmytro Peskov said that the agreements regarding the "grain initiative" have been terminated.
On July 19, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation threatened that any countries under whose flags ships would be sent to Ukrainian ports would be considered involved in the war.
In addition, Russia threatened civilian ships transporting food from Ukrainian ports openly. Recently, the Kremlin has turned the Black Sea into a danger zone.
Ukraine promised to respond to Russia's threats to sink ships.
In addition, almost a month after Russia withdrew from the "grain agreement," Ukraine announced the opening of temporary corridors for merchant ships in the Black Sea. However, the Navy of Ukraine emphasized that the threat from the Russian Federation remains.
Later, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Oleh Chalyk, explained that the corridor in the Black Sea would be transparent, and cameras would be installed on the ship to certify that this was only a humanitarian mission.
On August 12, it became known that merchant ships that were ready to pass through temporary corridors in the Black Sea began to register in Ukraine.
