Zelenskiy says Russia struck two foreign-flagged ships near Odesa
The reported attack follows a Russian claim of a strike on two Odesa-bound vessels a day earlier, which Kyiv has not confirmed.
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Map: The Black Sea, marking Odesa, Chornomorsk
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia attacked two foreign ships in the Odesa area. He did not name the vessels or their flag states in the filing.
The claim follows a similar Russian report from Monday, when Moscow said it had struck two ships bound for Odesa port, a claim Ukraine has not confirmed. That report came days after Russia said it had hit a vessel near Chornomorsk on Friday.
The Kremlin has said Ukraine must face consequences for recent strikes on Russian refineries, and has repeated that conditions for talks are "not ready." Ukrainian officials have said they do not expect a Black Sea ceasefire in the coming months.
A strike on foreign-flagged shipping, rather than on port infrastructure alone, raises the stakes by risking the involvement of the ships' flag states and complicating Turkey's efforts to mediate a Black Sea deal, which have struggled to gain traction. Ukrainian officials have said alternative export routes now carry close to half of the country's agricultural exports, a level they describe as near capacity, leaving shipping through the Black Sea an ongoing source of risk premium for exporters and insurers.