Vladimir Putin unleashed a missile strike to 'sink' a cargo ship amid claims it was carrying British weapons for use by Ukraine.
Two Iskander-M ballistic missiles hit the Panama-flagged container ship MSC LEVANTE F - reportedly Swiss-owned - soon after it arrived in Odesa on March 1, after making a stop in Turkey.
Two port workers were believed to have been wounded in the strike, which also damaged infrastructure, Ukrainian reports said.
The report of the attack comes as British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer today hosts Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders to discuss the future of the wartorn nation following the Ukrainian president's televised spat with US president Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Russian Telegram channel TalipoV [sic] Online Z claimed that the vessel was loaded with drones and weaponry that had been collected from a NATO base in Turkey before being transported to Odesa in Ukraine.
Tapipov said: 'It was established that in Turkey the ship loaded additional containers of two colours on board - red and yellow - which contained British sea drones and weapons from the Turkish NATO base.
'Upon arrival at the port of Odesa, the ship was hit by two missiles at berth number two at 18:00.
After the strike detonations began, the cargo was completely destroyed, the ship sank.'
Another pro-war Telegram channel Soprotivlenie claimed that the cargo ship was carrying other Western military cargo, including 'radars and launch containers of ATACMS missiles' supplied by the US.
A picture purportedly shows the containers visible on the vessel in Odesa shortly before it was hit.
Ukrainian vice prime minister Oleksii Kuleba challenged the Russian account and said that the vessel was carrying 'completely civilian cargoes'.
The container ship was struck as it prepared to unload, according to the Russian report.
A strike on the 482ft MSC LEVANTE F was confirmed by Odesa region governor Oleg Kiper.
'The enemy fired a ballistic missile on Odesa,' he said. 'The attack damaged port infrastructure and a civilian vessel under the flag of the Republic of Panama owned by a European company.'
Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba said a second ship was also hit, the Sierra Leone-flagged SUPER SARKAS.
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Putin's Iskander Missile Strike Sinks Ship Carrying British Weapons To Ukraine
