Mykolaiv Port provides access to the Black Sea and has been closed since Russia's full-scale invasion Mykolaiv Sea Port
Acts of War

One dead after Russian drones hit long-blockaded ships in Ukraine

Reuters

Russian drone attacks on port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region early on Monday and on Sunday killed one person and damaged three civilian vessels, a local official said.

Acting Regional Governor Heorhii Reshetilov said on a social media messaging platform that a 48 year-old man had been killed during a Monday morning attack on port infrastructure.

Ukraine's seaports authority said in a later statement that the vessels had been blockaded in the ports since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 and have not been carrying out commercial voyages.

The seaports authority said one person was killed and others injured in the overnight strikes, without giving the number of those injured.

It did not say how many vessels had come under attack.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday Moscow had struck two vessels carrying military cargoes in the port city of Mykolaiv.

In recent weeks, Russia has pummelled port infrastructure in southern Ukraine, including seaports in the Odessa region, with missiles and drones.

Ukraine has also increased attacks on vessels, mostly carrying fuel, in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, in an expanding campaign aimed at isolating Russia-occupied Crimea and undermining Moscow's key revenue sources.

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Tom Hogue and David Holmes)