Russia on Monday attacked two more civilian ships in the Black Sea transporting food products, according to Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy prime minister.
The attacks hit one tanker approaching the port carrying vegetable oil, causing a fire and wounding one crew member, and a second vessel leaving the port with a cargo of corn, Kuleba said.
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Maritime rescue services are currently working at the scene to extinguish the fire, while the injured crew member has been taken to receive medical treatment.
“This is further proof that Russia is deliberately targeting civilian ships, international trade and maritime safety,” Kuleba wrote on Telegram.
“Despite constant terror from the aggressor, Ukraine continues port operations and fulfils its international obligations,” he added.
Oleg Kiper, the Odesa regional governor, said the attacks happened around the Chornomorsk port on the southern Ukrainian coast.
On Friday, Ukraine said that Russian strikes had targeted two of its cargo vessels off the Black Sea coast, killing one Syrian crew member on board.
One of the vessels was carrying soybeans, while the other had been heading to the southern port of Chornomorsk to load grain.
It was the latest in a series of strikes by Moscow on cargo ships carrying food goods to and from Ukraine across the Black Sea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in early December said he would “expand the range of strikes” on Ukrainian ports and visiting vessels in order to cut the country off from the sea, accusing Kyiv of “piracy” after strikes on its shadow tanker fleet.
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