UN condemns Russia's attack on civilian ship entering Ukrainian port

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown has said she is outraged to learn of a Russian attack on a civilian ship entering a port in the Odesa region, which killed a port worker and injured crew members.

She said this in a statement on November 9, Ukrinform reports.

"I am outraged to learn of an attack yesterday on a civilian vessel as it was entering the Ukrainian Black Sea Port of Pivdennyi in Odesa, killing a port worker and injuring crew members. I share my condolences with the family of the killed port pilot and hope for the recovery of the injured," Brown said.

She noted that the attack came just a few days after a series of attacks that killed and injured civilians, destroyed grain supplies and damaged a 124-year-old Fine Arts Museum in Odesa, in the south of Ukraine.

"Yesterday's attack is one of over 30 attacks on Ukrainian port facilities since the termination of the Black Sea Initiative in July. This tragic incident marks the first time civilians are killed and injured on a civilian vessel," Brown said.

She described the consequences of this brutal and relentless pattern of Russian attacks on port facilities as devastating for Ukraine's economy and the hundreds of millions of people facing hunger worldwide.

She recalled that international humanitarian law strictly prohibits attacks on civilian infrastructure.

On November 8, Russia attacked a port in the Odesa region, damaging a Liberian-flagged civilian ship entering the port. The vessel was supposed to transport iron ore to China. The attack killed a port worker and injured three crew members.