Ten killed as Russian attacks on merchant ships in Black Sea intensify

Ten killed as Russian attacks on merchant ships in Black Sea intensifyImage source, Andrii SybihaImage caption, Attacks on cargo ships in the Black Sea have increased as Russia seeks to disrupt the last maritime export corridor outside of UkraineByLaura GozziPublished21 minutes agoThe death toll of a Russian strike on a cargo ship off the coast of the Ukrainian city of Odesa has risen to 10. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship was hit by Russian cruise missiles on Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said, causing a fire.A search and rescue operation was launched and lasted all night. By Monday morning, Ukraine's seaports authority said nine crew members had been killed, as well as one of its pilots.In recent weeks, the Odesa region has come under sustained attack. Twenty-eight people died in Russian strikes on the region in July alone, governor Oleh Kiper told Ukrainian TV on Monday.Russian attacks on cargo ships in the Black Sea have also increased. Sunday's attack on the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo ship was the deadliest of its kind. These usually foreign-flagged ships carrying international crews sustain Ukraine's last remaining maritime export corridor to transport cargo down the Romanian and Bulgarian coastlines and onwards to Turkey. Maritime exports account for over two-thirds of Ukrainian agricultural exports, for a value of roughly $9bn (£6.7bn) - an essential source of revenue for Kyiv. Fighting in the Black Sea was at a stalemate for most of the four-and-a-half years since Moscow first launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While Ukrainian ships were unable to move further than the area surrounding Odesa due to Russian control of much of the coast, Kyiv's drones forced Moscow to keep its assets safely tucked in its naval bases in the eastern Black Sea.But Russia's ramping up of attacks against cargo ships is likely meant to deter foreign companies from buying Ukrainian products and using its Black Sea maritime corridor. On Sunda...