BREAKING: Estonian cargo ship hit off Ukraine coast

BREAKING: An Estonian cargo ship has been hit off the coast of Ukraine.

AN Estonian cargo ship hit has been hit in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine on Thursday, March 3. The tragic event saw the ship sink and multiple people are fear dead.

According to Igor Ilves of Tallinn-based Vista Shipping Agency, two crew members were in a life raft at sea while four others were unaccounted for.

Speaking to Reuters, Ilves said: “The vessel has finally sunk.

“Two of the crew are in a raft on the water and four others are missing.

“I don’t know where they are at the moment.”

Vista Shipping Agency said that an explosion had been heard before the Panama-flagged Helt sank off the port of Odessa, as reported by the Sun.

The Ukrainian military is claiming that the Estonia-owned cargo ship was hit after it was diverted by Russian warships to cover their movements.

“For the safety of civil navigation, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine closed navigation in the north-western part of the Black Sea,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces said.

“At the same time, the Russian Black Sea Fleet continues the tactics of Russian ground forces trying to hide behind civilian lives.”

This isn’t the first attack to have allegedly been carried out in the waters by the Ukrainian city of Odessa, after heavy explosions were reported near the city’s airports on March 2 as a result of airstrikes, which are believed to have originated from several Russian warships spotted in the Black Sea.

According to Sergey Bratchuk, Chairman of the Public Council at the Odessa Regional State Administration at the time via his Facebook page: “Russian paratroopers have landed, fire to defeat them! They also landed in the airport”. Bratchuk stated that the information came from Vitaliy Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.

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