Russian Drones Sink Royad Mammadov Dry Cargo Ship Carrying Ukrainian Grain

The Turkish dry cargo ship Royad Mammadov sank in the Black Sea following an attack by Russian drones. The ship was en route from Ukraine to Italy with a cargo of grain.

This was reported by the Romanian Ministry of the Interior.

The ship was attacked by two drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“A horrific attack by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel in neutral waters that was carrying corn and belonged to Turkey,” Zelensky wrote.

There were citizens of Azerbaijan and India on board.

As of now, it is known that the ship’s captain was killed. The fate of one other person is still unknown. Eleven crew members were rescued, one of whom was injured.

At the time of the attack, the dry cargo ship was 20 nautical miles from the coast — approximately 37 km. The ship was carrying grain. Its final destination was the Italian port of Ravenna, where the Royad Mammadov was scheduled to arrive on October 12.

In mid-September, the ship departed from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which is one of the key ports for Ukrainian grain exports.

The ship entered the Black Sea on the afternoon of October 3. The tracking service detected interruptions in AIS data transmission, the Automatic Identification System, on the morning of October 5, around 9:20 a.m. local time. It is likely that the ship was attacked at that very moment.

The Royad Mammadov flies the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis, but companies based in Turkey are responsible for its commercial and technical operations.

Earlier, last week, a civilian vessel flying the Liberian flag was attacked in a port in the Odesa region. One person was killed as a result of the attack.