India has strongly condemned the deaths of four Indian sailors in an attack on a merchant vessel, and summoned the Russian ambassador in New Delhi to convey its protest.
According to the report, the merchant ship MV Golden Leo was attacked as it was departing from Ukraine’s Odesa port. At the time of the incident, the vessel had 17 crew members, including five Indians.
Four Indian crew members were killed, while another Indian sailor was admitted to hospital in a critical condition. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a sharp condemnation following the incident.
The government said targeting commercial ships, endangering civilian seafarers, and disrupting freedom of navigation and trade is unacceptable and must be avoided. This is reported to be the first instance of Indian sailors being killed in the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
In recent weeks, India had also conveyed strong protests to Iran and the United States over attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in which more than six Indian sailors were reported killed.
