Russian warship fires warning shots on cargo ship in Black Sea
By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian warship on Sunday fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea as it made its way northwards, the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark UN-brokered grain deal last month.
Russia in July halted participation in the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export agricultural produce via the Black Sea and Moscow cautioned that it deemed all ships heading to Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons.
Russia said in a statement that its Vasily Bykov patrol ship had fired automatic weapons on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship's captain failed to respond to a request to halt for an inspection.
Russia said the vessel was making its way towards the Ukrainian port of Izmail. Refinitiv shipping data showed the ship was currently near the coast of Bulgaria and heading towards the Romanian port of Sulina.
«To forcibly stop the vessel, warning fire was opened from automatic weapons,» the Russian defence ministry said.
The Russian military boarded the vessel with the help of a Ka-29 helicopter, the ministry said.
«After the inspection group completed its work on board, the Sukru Okan continued on its way to the port of Izmail,» the defence ministry said.
A Turkish defence ministry official said he had heard an incident had taken place involving a ship heading for Romania, and that Ankara was looking into it.
A spokesman for Ukraine's defence ministry said officials had no details about the incident yet but that it was «clearly another hostile act» by Russia.
Reuters could not immediately reach the vessel or its owners for comment.
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