Russian bulk carrier sinks in the Sea of Azov: there are fatalities

A Volgo-Balt-type vessel carrying stolen grain has crashed near the coast of the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region.

A Russian grain cargo ship sank in the Sea of ​​Azov. This was announced by the Kremlin-appointed head of the occupied part of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo.

At least one crew member died as a result of the accident, and two more are missing. The rest of the crew managed to escape – nine sailors, citizens of the Russian Federation, were found on the coast of the Kherson region.

At the same time, reports suggest that a full-fledged search and rescue operation was not actually carried out – the sailors were rescued on their own. This may indicate the rapid development of the accident, without the possibility of sending a distress signal.

The circumstances of the disaster remain unknown: neither the ship’s route nor the cause of the accident have been specified. At the same time, it is not ruled out that the grain cargo ship was transporting grain from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

It should be noted that the coast of the Kherson region has limited access to the Sea of ​​Azov and is located away from the main shipping routes between the Kerch Strait and Russian ports, in particular Rostov-on-Don. The nearest potential departure point could be occupied Genichesk, although it is not traditionally a large grain hub.

This is not the first case of accidents with Russian ships in the region. In particular, in December 2024, two river-sea tankers crashed near the Kerch Strait, which caused a large-scale spill of oil products in the Black Sea.

Fuel oil emissions onto the coast are still observed.