Russia hit a civilian grain ship, waited, and hit it again. A Russian Shahed drone struck a Palau-flagged vessel carrying corn twice as it left a port in Odesa Oblast, setting it on fire, Ukraine's Minister for Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk said. Two sailors are missing, and seven crew members and a Ukrainian pilot were rescued.

The double strike on a grain carrier is the maritime edge of Russia's campaign against Ukraine's food exports. The ship was carrying almost 2,800 tons of corn when it was hit as it left the port, and after the strikes, a fire broke out on board.

The State Border Guard Service, which carried out the rescue, reported that the vessel was leaving the mouth of the Danube bound from a Ukrainian port to Greece with nine crew and a pilot aboard when the Shahed hit it, then struck again, the second blast causing a large fire.

This is a deliberate attack on the civilian shipping that carries Ukrainian grain to world markets, and it fits a Russian campaign that has made ports and merchant ships a target through July.

"Russia continues deliberate attacks on civilian shipping and Ukraine's port infrastructure," Kalashnyk said.

The rescue pulled eight from a burning ship

The border guards' maritime security units rescued eight people after the double drone strike, the State Border Guard Service said. The sailors reacted quickly to the distress signal and evacuated eight from the burning vessel, all delivered to safety, with medics monitoring their condition.

The search continues for two crew members who went into the water after the first blast. The two accounts differ slightly on the totals, as they do in the first hours after any strike: Kalashnyk cited seven crew plus a Ukrainian pilot rescued, while the border guards counted eight evacuated. Both agree that two sailors are missing and a search-and-rescue operation is underway. What is confirmed is that a civilian grain ship was struck twice, caught fire, and lost two of its crew to the sea.

The strike is the maritime front of the grain war

The attack extends a campaign that has hammered Ukraine's grain export capacity through July.

From 11 to 15 July, Russian strikes hit three Greater Odesa ports and the merchant ships anchored there, cutting the region's grain-export capacity by roughly a third, according to Reuters. Odesa's ports carry more than 90% of Ukraine's agricultural exports.

Taiwan is stepping up plans to secure fuel and other vital imports as Chinese government ships practice moves that could one day be used in a blockade.

© Florence Lo/Reuters