Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the Russian assaults ‘had no … navy function in any respect’.
Russian forces have attacked two Ukrainian ports, damaging three Turkish-owned vessels, together with a ship carrying meals provides, in accordance with Ukrainian officers and a shipowner.
Friday’s assaults by Russian forces focused Chornomorsk and Odesa ports in Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa area on the Black Sea. A Ukrainian navy spokesperson advised the Reuters information company that three Turkish-owned vessels had been broken in complete, however didn’t present further particulars.
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Posting video footage on social media of firefighters tackling a blaze on board what he described as a “civilian vessel” in Chornomorsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the Russian assaults “had no … navy function in any respect”.
“This proves as soon as once more that Russians not solely fail to take the present alternative for diplomacy significantly sufficient, but in addition proceed the battle exactly to destroy regular life in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy stated.
“It’s essential that … the world maintains the correct ethical compass: who’s dragging out this battle and who’s working to finish it with peace, who’s utilizing ballistic missiles in opposition to civilian life, and who’s hanging the targets that affect the functioning of Russia’s battle machine,” he stated.
At present, the Russian military carried out a missile strike on our Odesa area, and final night time there was additionally a Russian assault on Odesa’s vitality infrastructure. At one level we talked in regards to the state of affairs on this metropolis and the individuals of Odesa with President Trump.
At present’s Russian… pic.twitter.com/gIgXUlc4AJ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 12, 2025
Zelenskyy didn’t identify the vessel, however it was recognized because the Panama-flagged and Turkish-owned Cenk T by Reuters, which matched cranes and buildings to satellite tv for pc imagery of Chornomorsk port.
The ship’s homeowners, Cenk Transport, confirmed it was attacked at about 4pm native time (14:00 GMT). There have been no casualties among the many crew, and harm to the ship was restricted, it added.
An worker of a non-public firm was additionally injured in a separate assault on Odesa port, the place a cargo loader was additionally broken, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba confirmed.
He added that Russia had used drones and ballistic missiles within the port strikes, which had been “aimed toward civilian logistics and business delivery”.
Ukraine’s three massive Black Sea ports within the Odesa area are a key economic artery for Kyiv.
Late on Friday, Turkiye’s Ministry of International Affairs confirmed the vessel had been attacked in Chornomorsk port. It added that there have been no experiences of injured Turkish residents.
The ministry stated in an announcement that the assault “validates our beforehand said issues relating to the unfold of the continuing battle within the area to the Black Sea, and its affect on maritime safety and freedom of navigation”.
“We reiterate the necessity for an association whereby, with a view to stop escalation within the Black Sea, assaults concentrating on navigational security in addition to the events’ vitality and port infrastructure are suspended,” it added.
Hours earlier, in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan’s capital of Ashgabat, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan known as for calm within the Black Sea and recommended {that a} restricted ceasefire for vitality services and ports might be helpful for regional safety.
Turkiye, which has the longest Black Sea shoreline at roughly 1,329km (826 miles), has grown increasingly alarmed on the escalating assaults in its again yard and has provided to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow.
The assaults come simply days after Putin promised retaliation and threatened to chop “Ukraine off from the ocean” for Kyiv’s maritime drone assaults on Moscow’s “shadow fleet” – unmarked tankers thought for use to bypass oil sanctions – within the Black Sea.
Kyiv says the tankers are Moscow’s essential supply of funding for its nearly four-year-old battle. It has additionally tried to squeeze Russian revenues by increasing assaults to the Caspian Sea, the place it struck a serious oil rig this week.
