Ten killed as Russian attacks on merchant ships in Black Sea intensify

The death toll of a Russian strike on a cargo ship off the coast of the Ukrainian city of Odesa has risen to 10. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship was hit by Russian cruise missiles on Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said, causing a fire.A search and rescue operation was launched and lasted all night. By Monday morning, Ukraine's seaports authority said nine crew members had been killed, as well as one of its pilots.In recent weeks, the Odesa-region" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="20102" data-entity-type="location">Odesa region has come under sustained attack. Twenty-eight people died in Russian strikes on the region in July alone, regional head Oleh Kiper told Ukrainian TV on Monday.Russian attacks on cargo ships in the Black Sea have also increased. Sunday's attack on the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo ship was the deadliest of its kind. These usually foreign-flagged ships carrying international crews sustain Ukraine's last remaining maritime export corridor to transport cargo down the Romanian and Bulgarian coastlines and onwards to Turkey.