3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 24, 2026 10:29 PM IST
In response to Moscow indicating that a ship in Black Sea — in which four Indians were killed — was targeted for carrying military supplies for Ukraine, India said that the vessel was carrying “grain” as cargo.
This is significant with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raising the issue of targeting of ships and killing of Indian seafarers with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Delhi summoning a senior Russian diplomat in the Capital to lodge an official protest.
The Kremlin had earlier defended the missile strike on the cargo ship, saying Russian forces will continue targeting vessels it believes are carrying military supplies for Ukraine.
During a weekly briefing on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while responding to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s comments, said: “As per information made available to us from the Directorate General of Maritime Administration, India, MV Golden Leo, the Guinea-Bissau-flagged commercial vessel involved in the tragic incident in the Odesa port, had loaded grain as cargo prior to its departure on 19 July 2026. We once again reiterate that commercial shipping and seafarers must not be targeted under any circumstances. The External Affairs Minister had made this position clear in the EAS (East Asia Summit) and ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum) meetings and reiterated (the same) with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Peskov had said Russia remained in contact with India over the deaths but made it clear that its military campaign would not change. “We continue our contacts with our Indian partners, we clarify our position, and most importantly, our armed forces are striking and will continue to strike those vessels that are involved in transporting ammunition, weapons, and so on for the purposes of the Kyiv regime,” Peskov had said.
The comments came after India lodged a strong diplomatic protest with Moscow over the attack on MV Golden Leo, which was hit on Sunday. According to Ukrainian authorities, the ship was struck by three Russian cruise missiles, killing 10 crew members — four Indians and six Syrians.
While deaths of Indian seafarers in the US-Iran war in West Asia have been reported in the last four-and-a-half months, this is the first time that sailors from the country have died in the Russia-Ukraine war.
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The attack came amid a sharp escalation in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s maritime infrastructure. The repeated attacks have disrupted grain exports, with some ship owners reportedly refusing to send vessels to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports because of the growing security risks.