KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — A Russian drone hit a Chinese cargo ship in the Black Sea overnight, Ukraine said Monday, a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping.
Kyiv routinely announces Russian attacks on civilian vessels near the port of Odesa — a vital maritime hub for Ukrainian agricultural exports.
But Monday’s attack comes just ahead of Putin’s two-day trip to Beijing where he and Xi are set to deepen bilateral ties between the friendly nations.
“Drones struck Odesa... and one of the UAVs hit a vessel owned by China,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
“The Russians could not have been unaware of what vessel was at sea,” he added.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy told Agence France-Presse that none of the crew — all Chinese citizens — were wounded and that the Chinese-owned vessel continued on its journey.
“The ship was entering for loading. After it was hit at night by a Shahed, the crew coped with the consequences on their own. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the vessel continued on its way to its port of destination,” navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said.
The Ukrainian navy named the ship as KSL Deyang.
It posted a photo showing part of the upper deck blackened after the apparent hit.
Drone barrage
Zelensky said Russian forces had attacked Ukraine overnight with 524 attack drones and 22 missiles, including ballistic and cruise missiles.
The attack wounded more than 30 people, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
Russia targeted the industrial city of Dnipro south of the capital, and the mayor published images on social media showing windows blown out of residential buildings.
“Twenty-six people were wounded. The enemy attacked six districts of the region with missiles, drones, artillery and aerial bombs,” Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the region, said.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed most of the drones but just four out of 22 missiles.
Russian strikes also wounded five people in the southern cities of Odesa, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.