According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Friday’s incident threatens the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. According to Turkey, a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine is necessary especially in the area of port and energy infrastructure, the Hürriyet server reported on Ankara’s position.
The ship caught fire after the Russian attack on Friday afternoon. It is owned by the Turkish company Cenk Denizcilik, which said the Russian military struck the vessel shortly after it docked at the port.
The Turkish server said that the company focuses on the transportation of trucks with fresh vegetables, fruits and foodstuffs on the Karau – Odesa route. According to the company, the Russians struck the ship at 16:00 local time (15:00 CET) shortly after it arrived in Chornomorsk, which is located south of Odessa. “According to available information, this is only material damage,” the company said in a statement.
Telegram channel Dumskaya published a picture showing a burning ship with a large inscription Cenk Roro on the side of the vessel. In addition, he also posted a video from the location. He later wrote that a worker of a private company was injured in the port of Odessa.
The attack on the Turkish ship came on the day Turkey’s authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan.
According to the Turkish Anadolu agency, Erdogan was supposed to express himself there in a similar vein as Ankara later did. He spoke of the benefits of a “limited ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, which would be “focused primarily on energy facilities and ports.” That was before the attack on the Turkish ship.
Photo: Kristina Kormilitsyna, Reuters
Putin and Erdogan in Turkmenistan
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi also mentioned the attack on the Odesa region on the X network.
“Today’s Russian strike, like many others, did not and could not have any military significance. It damaged a civilian ship in the port of Chornomorsk. This once again proves that the Russians not only do not take the present opportunity for diplomacy seriously enough, but that they continue the war precisely to destroy normal life in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Telegram.
