A Russian missile strike damaged a civilian Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged vessel. The ship was loaded with corn in the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi. Ukraine’s restoration ministry said on Monday, adding that the 15 crew members were not injured in the Russian missile attack.
“Fortunately none of the 15 crew members, citizens of Egypt and Syria, were injured. In total, the vessel was loaded with about 6,000 tons of Ukrainian corn. This is a completely civilian cargo,” it said.
The ministry said this was the 20th civilian vessel to be damaged by Russian missile attacks.
“This is nothing more than Russia’s attempts to influence the successful operation of the Ukrainian maritime food corridor and endanger global food security,” the ministry quoted deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba as saying.
Moscow has repeatedly denied that it attacks civilian in the ongoing conflict.
In early September, the Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged bulk carrier Aya was hit by a Russian missile in the Black Sea. Later in the month, another vessel, an Antigua-flagged carrier, was damaged in a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
The U.S. Congress has passed USD 60 billion supplemental funding for Ukraine earlier this year. Ukraine is in urgent need as its ammunition reserves, especially those of artillery and air-defence, have been dwindling. Ukraine would receive ammunition for Patriot air defence system, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), Stinger anti-aircraft missiles from the United States. The need for air defence weapons is urgent as Russian missile and glide bomb strikes are having a serious effect on Ukrainian infrastructure.
The U.S. will reprioritise planned deliveries of foreign military sales of Patriot and other missiles to go to Ukraine, which is in “desperate need” of more air defense capabilities amid its ongoing war with Russia. The Ukrainian forces will also get Additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) and Javelin ATGMs besides AT-4 anti-armour rockets.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
