1 Dead, 2 Missing After Wheat-Laden Ship Sinks In Sea Of Azov From Deadly Drone Attack

A cargo vessel carrying wheat sank in the Sea of Azov after what Russian-installed authorities said was a Ukrainian drone attack, leaving one crew member dead and two missing.

Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed head of the occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, said the incident took place on April 5. He said the vessel, a Volgo-Balt type dry cargo ship, was damaged in the strike and later sank.

According to him, the crew abandoned the vessel and managed to reach the shore near coastal villages in the Kherson region, including Strilkove and Shchaslyvtseve. He said nine crew members were found alive onshore and all were Russian nationals.

Saldo said an aide to the captain had died, while two other crew members were still unaccounted for. The captain survived and was recovering in hospital. He added that the crew were not able to report what had happened immediately, and details only became known after they reached land on April 6.

He described the incident as a “terrorist attack” and said it was not the first time a merchant vessel had been targeted. He added that an investigation was under way.

Details about casualties differ across reports. Some statements mentioned that between one and three crew members may have died, while others confirmed one death and two missing.

The vessel was carrying grain at the time. Ships of the Volgo-Balt class are commonly used for river-sea transport in the region.

Ukrainian authorities have previously said that several vessels of this type, including Volgo-Balt 106, 216, 230 and 237, have been used to transport grain from occupied Ukrainian territories.

These operations, according to Ukrainian officials, sometimes involve switching off AIS tracking before cargo is moved to Russian ports and re-exported.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine regarding the reported strike.

The Sea of Azov has seen several maritime incidents since the war began. In August 2025, Ukrainian military intelligence reported a strike on a Russian Buyan-M class missile ship capable of launching Kalibr missiles.

In a separate incident, a Russian-linked LNG carrier, Arctic Metagas, was damaged by an explosion in the Mediterranean while carrying more than 60,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas. The vessel was later abandoned by its crew and left drifting between Malta, Italy and Libya.

References: Reuters, Bloomberg