NEW DELHI — India’s government took formal diplomatic action Tuesday after a Russian missile strike on a cargo ship in the Black Sea claimed the lives of four Indian crew members.
Ukraine reported that Russia fired three cruise missiles at the Golden Leo — a Guinea-Bissau-flagged vessel crewed by sailors from India and Syria — on Sunday as the ship was departing a Ukrainian port. The attack killed a total of ten people, four of whom were Indian nationals.
Russia did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that Vladimir Ladanov, Russia’s chargé d’affaires, was called in to meet with ministry officials. During that meeting, Ladanov was asked to relay India’s strong objections to Moscow and was told that striking commercial vessels and causing civilian deaths was completely “unacceptable.”
“Such attacks undermine the safety, security, and stability of international maritime commerce,” the ministry stated.
According to LSEG data, the Golden Leo is owned by Ocean Grace Shipping Ltd, a company based in Mumbai.
This is not the first time India has lost sailors in an active conflict zone. The country has also seen seafarers killed in the Iran war and previously lodged formal protests with both the United States and Iran over those deaths.
