Russian missile strike on Odesa Oblast hit ship with humanitarian aid for Palestine, Kyiv says

A Russian missile strike on Odesa Oblast on Oct. 9 hit a civilian cargo ship containing 45 containers of packaged sunflower oil to be sent as humanitarian aid to Palestine, Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry said on Oct. 10.

The strike, which killed eight people and injured another 11, hit a Panama-flagged civilian vessel and damaged its cargo of aid. It was the third Russian attack against a civilian vessel in four days.

The U.N. had delivered an order for the aid to be sent to Palestine.

"Ukraine, despite the war, supplies products for 400 million people around the world," said Agriculture Minister Vitalii Koval.

Koval emphasized that Ukraine needs more air defenses to protect itself from Russian attacks, adding that "today the food security of Ukraine is also the food security of the world."

Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper accused Russia of attempting to disrupt Ukraine's maritime food corridor, which Kyiv established in August 2023 after Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal in July.

Ukraine has previously sent humanitarian aid to Palestine amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Romania condemns Russia’s ‘deliberate attack on cargo ship’ carrying Ukrainian grain

Romania’s Foreign Ministry said on Sept. 13 that Russia’s strike against a cargo ship loaded with Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea is an “unprecedented escalation” of Moscow’s war.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek