According to the military, the enemy is constantly upgrading drones to strike civilian vessels in real time.

Russian occupiers deliberately hit a vessel belonging to a Turkish citizen in the Black Sea . As Ukrainian Navy Press Secretary Dmitry Pletenchuk explained on the telethon, hitting a small, moving target is extremely difficult, making this an act of outright terrorism.

“Despite the fact that Russia has had a rather long and complex relationship with the Turkish Republic, they (the Russians – UNIAN) still strike at ships owned by Turkish citizens,” Pletenchuk emphasized.

He noted that the hits on civilian vessels by Russian drones on the night of June 22 cannot be considered “consequences” of the strikes. This could have been the case if the vessels had been damaged while docked in port—such incidents have occurred previously when Russia attacked Ukrainian ports. However, this time, the hit occurred while the Turkish cargo ship was at sea, and hitting such a small, moving target is very difficult, the military officer explained.

“These are, of course, targeted attacks. The Russian Federation is resorting to conventional terrorist actions. Because they, of course, have no justification for striking civilian vessels. While they previously used various cover stories about allegedly transporting weapons, now they’re not even doing that—this is simply open terrorism,” the Ukrainian Navy representative emphasized.

He noted that the crew was evacuated and brought to shore, where they received all necessary assistance. The military officer added that the crew members were taken to appropriate medical facilities, but he was not aware of the foreigners’ current health condition.

(C)UNIAN 2026