“On December 13, Russian forces attacked the Turkish civilian vessel VIVA in Ukraine’s exclusive maritime economic zone, striking it with a drone while it was passing through the grain corridor. The crew was not injured”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“The passage to the sea took place through a grain corridor. There are 11 citizens of the Republic of Turkey on board. The strike was carried out in the open sea in the exclusive maritime economic zone of Ukraine, outside the scope of Ukrainian air defense,” the message states.
The Ukrainian military notes that such actions directly contradict the fundamental principles of freedom of navigation. The Navy of Ukraine reported its readiness to provide naval assistance.
“Fortunately, the crew was not injured. The ship is heading to the port of destination in Egypt,” the Navy informs.
This is not the first attack on a Turkish ship in Ukrainian waters. The tanker Orinda, damaged by Russian drones near Izmail, was sailing under the Turkish flag and anchored in the port of Izmail since November 12, 2025, according to marinetraffic.com.
Russia regularly attacks Ukrainian port infrastructure.
Earlier, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleg Kiper reported that on the night of November 17, the Russian military again massively attacked Odesa with strike drones, as a result of which “consequences for the energy and port infrastructure were recorded.”
According to Kiper, several civilian vessels were damaged during the attack, and one person was injured.
Before that, Russia carried out airstrikes on Ukrainian ports on the Danube on the night of November 10-11, 2025. On November 14, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian Ambassador Volodymyr Lipaev over the violation of Romanian airspace by a Russian drone during the attack.
Russian drones have repeatedly violated the airspace of countries neighboring Ukraine during Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.