Ukraine accuses Russia of bombing Turkish ship in Odessa

A fire broke out on a Turkish car ferry docked in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Friday after a strike struck.

The operating company of the Cenk T confirmed that the attack occurred at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT), shortly after the ship docked in the port of Chernomorsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russia for the attack, but Russia has yet to comment.

The attack came hours after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that a limited ceasefire at energy facilities and ports could be beneficial. Russia has rejected all calls for a ceasefire.

In response to Kiev, Moscow threatened to cut off “Ukraine’s connections to the sea.” Maritime drone strikes Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ Tankers are thought to be used to export oil and are a major source of funding for the current war.

Cenk Denizcilik, the company that owns the cargo ship, said on Friday that the cargo ship was carrying “essential food supplies” when it was attacked shortly after it anchored in the Ukrainian port city.

The company statement added that emergency response measures were immediately initiated by the ship’s crew, the port fire brigade and assisting tugboats following the fire in the forward part of the vessel.

“At this stage, there are no reports of crew casualties,” the statement said.

Video footage of the aftermath of the attack shared on Zelensky’s Telegram account showed crew members trying to put out a fire on the ship.

The Ukrainian leader, while denouncing a series of Russian missile attacks on the Odessa region the night before, accused Moscow of targeting Turkish civilian ships, saying it “could not have had any military significance.”

Türkiye’s foreign ministry said an agreement should be reached to guarantee “shipping security and suspend attacks on energy and port infrastructure to prevent escalation in the Black Sea”.

“We stress once again the importance of urgently ending the war between Russia and Ukraine,” the ministry said.

Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Türkiye has sought to maintain relations with the two warring countries.

It also controls the Bosporus, a key passage that carries Ukrainian grain and Russian oil to the Mediterranean.