Russia Attacks Two More Civilian Ships in Ukraine's Odesa Port

Oct 14 (Reuters) – Another Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa damaged two civilian vessels and a grain storage on Monday, killing one person and injuring at least eight, Ukrainian authorities said.

Russian troops have ramped up strikes on Ukraine’s southern port infrastructure in recent weeks. Such attacks, which damaged a total of four foreign-flagged vessels since Oct. 6, had already pushed insurance rates up.

One of the two vessels hit on Monday was a Palau-flagged bulk carrier, Optima, which sustained damage in another ballistic missile attack last week, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.

The strike also damaged a Belize-flagged civilian vessel and a grain storage facility.

“The port infrastructure once again became the enemy’s target. One person was killed and eight others were injured,” Oleh Kiper, the regional governor said.

Kuleba added that all victims were civilians. Two of the injured were in serious condition, according to Kiper.

Ukraine said that Russia had carried out almost 60 attacks on ports over the past three months, resulting in the damage and destruction of nearly 300 port infrastructure facilities and 22 civilian vessels.

(Reporting by Yuliia DysaEditing by Bernadette Baum, William Maclean)

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