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All 17 crew members managed to escape after the vessel Yanina was hit by two Ukrainian drones in an overnight attack on 1 August.
Vessel YANINA, image credit: Cengiz Tokgoz
The 142.7-metre-long container ship was sailing near the Russian port of Novorossiysk when it was attacked by Ukrainian drones. The vessel began taking on water and the crew members were forced to abandon ship.
The Russian naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet and the nearby merchant vessel Delphinus managed to rescue all 17 of the crew members in time. All crew members are now reported to be in good condition.
There have been conflicting claims from the Russian and Ukrainian sides regarding the vessel. The Yanina is owned by the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom. The head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, stated that the struck vessel was civilian and was carrying frozen food as well as construction materials, condemning the attack as "piracy and maritime robbery."
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed the vessel is a sanctioned Russian ship, stating that targets were chosen based on their assistance in the continuation of the war.
There has been no indication thus far that the Yanina was indeed transporting nuclear material or carrying out activities for the nuclear arm of Rosatom.
The Yanina is a Russian-flagged container vessel that was built in 2005. The vessel has a length of 142.72 metres, a beam of 22.6 metres, and a gross tonnage of 9,522.
Attacks from both the Russian and Ukrainian sides have ramped up in the last few weeks, including damage to civilian ships and port infrastructure.
