A major fire erupted after Russia targeted a Turkish cargo vessel anchored in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa in a missile attack on Friday.
The cargo vessel was damaged by a suspected missile attack at Ukraine's Chornomorsk port on Friday, its operator Cenk Denizcilik said in a statement.
The company said the roll-on/roll-off vessel M/V CENK T, which operates between Türkiye's Karasu and Ukraine's Odesa, was hit shortly after docking, igniting a fire that tugboats and port firefighting teams later worked to contain.
"Russia launched a missile strike on civilian port infrastructure in the Odesa region," Ukraine's Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram, adding: "A ferry flying the Turkish flag was damaged in the Black Sea port, with no casualties reported."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted photos that showed a large fire burning aboard a ship in the port of Chornomorsk in Odesa region, with firefighters tackling the blaze.
"This proves once again that Russians not only fail to take the current opportunity for diplomacy seriously enough, but also continue the war precisely to destroy normal life in Ukraine," he said.
Russia attacked Ukrainian ports with drones and ballistic missiles, Kuleba added.
He said that one employee of a private company had been injured in a separate attack on Odesa port, and that a cargo loader had been damaged there. Ukraine's navy spokesperson told Reuters that three vessels were damaged in total, all Turkish-owned. But the spokesperson did not provide additional details.
The three large Black Sea ports in the Odesa region are a key economic artery for Ukraine, which is a major commodities exporter.
In addition to the so-called "shadow fleet" tankers, Kyiv has ramped up pressure on Moscow by hitting targets in the Caspian Sea this week, including vessels allegedly carrying military equipment and a major oil rig.
