Russian Missile Kills Indian Sailors on a Grain Ship Leaving Ukraine's Odesa Port

A Russian cruise-missile strike on a departing cargo ship outside Ukraine's southern port of Odesa killed at least 10 people, including four Indian sailors, Ukrainian and Indian officials said, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilian shipping since Moscow renewed its assault on Ukraine's Black Sea grain trade.

The Guinea-Bissau-flagged MV Golden Leo was carrying a cargo of corn and a mixed crew of 17 mariners from India and Syria when three Russian cruise missiles slammed into it on Sunday evening, according to Ukraine's navy. Four of the five Indian nationals aboard were killed and one was left in critical condition, India's Ministry of External Affairs said, condemning what it called an attack on a civilian vessel.

"India strongly condemns the attack on a merchant vessel in the Black Sea and conveys its deepest condolences to the families of the seafarers who lost their lives," the ministry said in a statement, adding that its missions in the region were working to assist the survivors and repatriate the dead. Ukrainian port authorities put the overall death toll at 10, saying the crew came from several nations.

The strike underscored the danger that has returned to the northwestern Black Sea after the breakdown of arrangements that had allowed grain to flow from Ukrainian ports. Odesa and its neighboring harbors are the backbone of Ukraine's agricultural exports, shipping corn, wheat and sunflower oil to buyers across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Russia has increasingly targeted the port infrastructure and the vessels that call there, and Ukrainian officials say the attacks amount to a deliberate campaign against global food supplies.

The assault on the Golden Leo came amid a broader escalation across Ukraine. In recent days Russia has launched some of the largest missile and drone barrages of the war against Kyiv and other cities, and Ukraine has answered with long-range drone strikes deep inside Russia, including on the Moscow region. Civilian casualties have mounted on both sides as the front lines have hardened.

For India, the deaths added a painful human dimension to a war that New Delhi has tried to keep at arm's length while maintaining ties with both Moscow and the West. Thousands of Indian seafarers crew merchant ships worldwide, and the loss of four of them on a grain carrier leaving a war-zone port drew swift condemnation at home. As rescuers searched the waters off Odesa, the burned-out vessel became another grim marker of a conflict that continues to pull in citizens far from the battlefield.