Last month’s strike by Russian airforce planes on a bulk carrier close to Romania’s shoreline was likely a mistake, a new study from the UK’s Ministry of Defence suggests.
The 27,239 dwt bulker Aya, which was transporting Ukrainian grain to Egypt, sustained damage to its port side, including a cargo hold and a crane, when it came under attack on September 11.
A Tu-22 Tupolev bomber fired an AS-4 Kitchen anti-ship missile that hit the ship. However, the missile failed to detonate, likely thanks to its advanced age, which British officials said prevented catastrophic damage. UK defence officials said that the ship was likely not the intended target.
“It is a realistic possibility that this incident occurred due to pilots incorrectly identifying MV Aya as their target in haste, wanting to depart the area immediately after launch for fear of being targeted by a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile,” British officials said, while not identifying what the actual target likely was.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly requests the Russian Federation to stop any attack on commercial ships and to respect the freedom of navigation enjoyed by the states in the Black Sea,” Romania’s Foreign Ministry stated in the wake of the attack, the first merchant ship hit in the Black Sea this year.
According to the Romanian ministry, the ship was 55 km from Sfântu Gheorghe, a commune in Tulcea county in Romania’s exclusive economic zone when it came under attack. An exclusive economic zone is a maritime area adjacent to a nation’s territorial waters.
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