Russian strikes damage Turkish-owned ships in Ukraine - VIDEO
Russian forces have attacked two major Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, damaging three Turkish-owned vessels, including a ship carrying food supplies, Ukrainian officials and a shipowner said.
The strikes on Friday targeted the ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa in Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy told Reuters that three Turkish-owned vessels were damaged in total, without providing further details, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, sharing video footage of firefighters battling flames aboard what he described as a civilian vessel in Chornomorsk. He said the strikes had “no military purpose whatsoever” and accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure.
Today, the Russian army carried out a missile strike on our Odesa region, and last night there was also a Russian attack on Odesa’s energy infrastructure. At one point we talked about the situation in this city and the people of Odesa with President Trump.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 12, 2025
Today’s Russian… pic.twitter.com/gIgXUlc4AJ
“This proves once again that Russia is continuing the war to destroy normal life in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the attacks showed Moscow was not taking diplomatic opportunities seriously.
The vessel shown in the footage was later identified by Reuters as the Panama-flagged, Turkish-owned Cenk T. Its owner, Cenk Shipping, confirmed the ship was hit at about 4:00 p.m. local time. The company said there were no casualties among the crew and that the damage was limited.
In a separate strike on Odesa port, an employee of a private company was injured and a cargo loader was damaged, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba. He said Russia used drones and ballistic missiles in attacks aimed at civilian logistics and commercial shipping.
Ukraine’s three major Black Sea ports in the Odesa region remain a critical economic lifeline for the country, particularly for exports of grain and other goods.
Late on Friday, Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that a Turkish-owned vessel had been attacked in Chornomorsk but said no Turkish citizens were injured. In a statement, the ministry warned that the incident highlighted growing risks to maritime security and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier called for calm in the region during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting that a limited ceasefire covering ports and energy infrastructure could help reduce tensions.
The attacks follow recent threats by Putin to cut Ukraine off from the sea in retaliation for Kyiv’s maritime drone strikes on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, which Ukraine says help finance Moscow’s war effort.
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