Orgy of death at sea: Horrific attack on a ship at Odessa Port in Ukraine, painful death of 4 Indian sailors

Four Indian citizens have lost their lives in a very gruesome and dangerous attack on a cargo ship near Odessa port in Ukraine. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), while confirming this tragic incident on Monday, said that on the evening of 19 July 2026, when the cargo ship named ‘MV GOLDEN LEO’ was leaving from Odessa port, it was suddenly attacked.

When this horrific accident occurred, a total of 17 crew members were present on the ship, out of which five were Indian citizens. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, four Indian sailors lost their lives in this dastardly attack, while another Indian is seriously injured, who has been immediately admitted to the hospital for treatment. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine is continuously keeping a close watch on this entire incident and is fully engaged in providing all possible help to the affected Indian families. Expressing deep sorrow over this accident, the Government of India has expressed its deep condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the speedy recovery of the injured Indian citizen. Along with this, India has strongly condemned this brutal attack, saying that such targeting of commercial ships, endangering the lives of innocent civilians and disrupting international maritime trade and freedom of navigation is a highly condemnable act.

Serious allegations against Russia, Ukraine calls it an attack on global trade

On the other hand, after this horrific incident came to light, Ukraine has directly blamed Russia for this. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister has made a strong claim that Russia has once again made a civilian cargo ship operating in Ukraine’s maritime corridor a victim of its stubbornness. According to him, there were citizens of India and Syria on board this ship. A Ukrainian Marine pilot as well as four Indian crew members lost their lives in this horrific attack.

Ukraine also says that this attack is not just on an ordinary ship, but it is a direct attack on the global food supply chain and freedom of international maritime trade. The Ukrainian minister alleged that Russia does not care about the lives of anyone involved in Russian attacks, whether they are Ukrainian citizens or people of any other country.

Preparation to raise serious questions on international platform

Ukraine has also claimed that just a day before this incident, another foreign cargo ship was targeted in the Black Sea, in which one person was killed and three others were seriously injured. The Kiev administration has said that they will strongly raise this serious matter with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and all their Western allies. Besides, he has also demanded strict international action against Russia and imposition of new sanctions.

This painful incident has once again raised very big and serious questions regarding the safety of civilian ships and global maritime trade in a sensitive area like the Black Sea in the shadow of the ongoing bloody war between Russia and Ukraine. This incident is also considered very sensitive and worrying from India’s point of view, because this is the biggest and most serious attack on Indian sailors within international waters in the last few years.