The death toll from a Russian missile strike on the cargo ship Golden Leo off Odesa has risen to ten, in what appears to be the deadliest attack yet on merchant shipping in the Black Sea. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel was hit by Russian cruise missiles on Sunday, triggering a fire and an overnight search and rescue operation; the dead include nine crew members, one Ukrainian pilot and four Indian nationals. The attack forms part of an intensifying Russian campaign against foreign-flagged ships using Ukraine's last remaining maritime export corridor, which Moscow appears keen to disrupt in order to deter foreign firms from trading with Kyiv.

The corridor, which routes cargo past Romania and Bulgaria to Turkey, carries over two-thirds of Ukraine's agricultural exports, worth around $9bn (£6.7bn) annually, making it a vital revenue source for Kyiv. Odesa region has suffered 28 deaths from Russian strikes in July alone, according to regional head Oleh Kiper, while Ukraine's Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said measures were being prepared to protect civilian vessels and seafarers. Ukraine has meanwhile stepped up its own strikes on Russian naval assets, with drone forces commander Robert Brovdi claiming 183 vessels hit in July, alongside continued drone strikes on Moscow region. The UN reported June saw the highest Ukrainian civilian casualty toll since April 2022, with at least 293 killed and 1,990 injured.