Eleven crew members were rescued, the Romanian Ministry of the Interior said. The vessel sank after a fire broke out on board.
Romanian media reported that the ship had been hit by a drone, but there was initially no official confirmation of this. The incident occurred about 30 nautical miles (55.6 kilometres) south of the Romanian Black Sea town of Sfântu Gheorghe, within Romania’s exclusive economic zone, the ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, described it as a “horrific strike” by two Russian drones on the freighter.
Kiev had repeatedly proposed taking steps to de-escalate the situation in the Black Sea, he said. “But Russia consistently chooses terror and sinking civilian vessels instead of normal maritime navigation,” he wrote on social media.
The Black Sea has repeatedly been the scene of attacks in Russia’s war against Ukraine. According to unconfirmed media reports, the vessel is said to have been a Turkish ship carrying grain and bound for Italy.
Elsewhere, at least 6 people were killed and 59 others injured in a Russian glide bomb attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, authorities said on Monday. The search for possible further victims continues among the rubble of a residential building. “The clean-up following the Russian attack is ongoing,” the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said in the evening.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the Russian air force attacked the city with three so-called glide bombs. Fighter jets release these bombs from within their own secure airspace, enabling them to fly in a controlled manner for dozens of kilometres to their target.
In southern Ukraine, a projectile struck a border crossing with the Republic of Moldova during a Russian attack. According to media reports, a Ukrainian border guard was slightly injured. A coach and a border control hut at the crossing to Palanca in Moldova were reportedly damaged.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian border crossings with Poland, Moldova and Romania, in an apparent effort to isolate Ukraine.
Ukraine has been fending off Russia’s full-scale invasion for more than four and a half years. Zelensky expects negotiations as soon as this month During his evening address on Monday, Zelensky said he is hopeful that talks on ending the war could resume soon. “I expect that the American side will succeed in organizing a trilateral meeting in October,” he said. The Ukrainian negotiating team is ready. “This willingness must now also come from Russia.” Diplomacy must now become a priority in Russia as well, he added. “So far, they have focused exclusively on attacks on Ukraine and destabilizing ties in Europe,” Zelensky asserted.
An important task for the US and all of Ukraine’s strong partners was to persuade Russia to turn to diplomacy, “to take concrete steps rather than resorting to killing,” he added.
Since launching its war against Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly signalled a willingness to negotiate under certain conditions, only to later back away from that position. However, Kiev, its Western allies and observers have serious doubts about Moscow’s genuine willingness to engage in talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, reiterated earlier this month that Moscow was prepared to enter into negotiations and conclude them as quickly as possible. “But, of course, on terms that are also acceptable to the Russian Federation … and to the Russian people,” he added.
GNA