Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 5, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 6, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleA wheat‑carrying cargo ship sank in the Sea of Azov on April 5, 2026, resulting in one confirmed fatality, two missing crew, and nine survivors—all Russian nationals—according to Moscow‑installed Kherson leader Vladimir Saldo. An investigation is underway.
MOSCOW, April 5 (Reuters) - A cargo ship carrying wheat sank in the Sea of Azov after coming under attack from Ukrainian drones, a Russia-installed official said on Sunday, leaving one person dead and two missing.
Vladimir Saldo, Moscow-installed leader of the Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Kherson region, said the attack occurred on Friday but crew members were unable to make known what had happened to them until Sunday.
"It became known that the reason for the sinking of the Volgo-Balt in the Sea of Azov was a terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime," Saldo wrote on Telegram.
He said the crew abandoned ship and was only able to reach shore on Sunday near the village of Strilkove in Kherson region.
He said an aide to the captain had died and two people were unaccounted for, adding that an investigation into the incident was under way. The captain was recovering in a hospital.
"This is, unfortunately, not the first instance of Ukraine attacking a merchant ship in neutral waters. There will be a response to this crime," Saldo said.
In an earlier post, he said nine crew members had been found alive on the shore - all Russian nationals.
Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia in 2022, more than six months after Moscow's invasion. Russian forces hold a little more than 70% of the two regions, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in the south.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Christina Fincher, Ron Popeski and Mark Porter)
A cargo ship carrying wheat sank in the Sea of Azov, resulting in one death and two missing crew members.
Nine crew members, all Russian nationals, were found alive on the shore.
The vessel was carrying a shipment of wheat.
The incident was reported by Vladimir Saldo, a Russian-installed official in Ukraine's Kherson region.
Yes, authorities have opened an investigation into the incident.
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