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A Turkish-owned cargo ship was struck by a drone in the Black Sea shortly after leaving Ukraine's Chornomorsk Port with a cargo of corn, maritime sources said.
The attack came hours after Russia's Defense Ministry reported that its overnight strikes had hit a dry cargo vessel in the port of Pivdennyi, as well as two more ships east and south of Odesa. It remains unclear whether these incidents are connected.
The strike on the Panama-flagged ATA-2 would make it at least the 11th Turkish or Turkish-linked vessel damaged since Russia's full-scale invasion, and the third this month alone, days after a drone attack killed Turkish sailor Savas Cakar aboard the Reyhan Sari.
Turkish Maritime Federation recently branded the targeting of merchant ships "crimes against humanity."
The ATA-2, a Panama-flagged dry cargo vessel belonging to a Turkish company, was attacked after leaving Chornomorsk with its corn cargo, according to maritime monitoring account The Maritime Voice.
The drone struck the ship's living quarters, causing damage; there was no clear information yet on casualties or the extent of losses.
No party has claimed the attack.
The vessel was struck after departing a Ukrainian port, a profile matching ships Russia has repeatedly targeted and claimed as military supply carriers.
In its statement on the overnight barrage, Russia's Defense Ministry said that alongside military airfields, defense-industry plants and logistics centers, its forces struck "a dry cargo ship in the port of Pivdennyi and two dry cargo ships east and south of Odesa, which were delivering weapons and military equipment."
The claims could not be independently verified, and it was not immediately clear whether the ATA-2 was among the vessels Russia referred to.
Chornomorsk lies just south of Odesa on Ukraine's Black Sea coast.
The ATA-2 extends a lengthening list of Turkish-linked vessels caught in the war.
The Turkish bulk carrier Yasa Jupiter was struck by a Russian missile at Odesa in February 2022, the first commercial vessel damaged after the invasion, followed by the Tuzla and Ferahnaz in Russian shelling of Kherson in January 2023 and the Kafkametler, damaged by a drifting sea mine near the Romanian coast in October 2023.
The pace has quickened since late 2025.
The Turkish-flagged LPG tanker MT Orinda was damaged in a Russian attack on Izmail in November; the VIVA, carrying Ukrainian sunflower oil to Egypt, was hit by a Russian drone in December, the same month the ferry CENK T was damaged in a Russian missile attack on Odesa.
This year, the Turkish-operated, Vanuatu-flagged ANT was attacked by a Russian drone after leaving Odesa on May 28, wounding two Turkish crew.
A Turkish-owned, Panama-flagged dry cargo vessel was hit by a Russian drone off Chornomorsk on June 22, also wounding two Turkish crew; and on July 20, the Turkish-owned, Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo was struck by three Russian cruise missiles after departing Odesa, killing multiple crew members and a Ukrainian pilot.
Two days later, the Turkish-flagged Reyhan Sari was hit off Novorossiysk, killing Cakar.
The Turkish Maritime Federation has demanded a Turkish murder investigation, cases before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, IMO action on drone attacks, and "all necessary deterrent measures" by officials.
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