Russian drone hit Chinese cargo ship overnight in Black Sea: Ukraine

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for a photo on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. (Alexandr Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

A Russian drone hit a Chinese cargo ship in the Black Sea overnight, Ukraine said Monday, a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping.

Kyiv routinely announces Russian attacks on civilian vessels near the port of Odesa -- a vital maritime hub for Ukrainian agricultural exports.

But Monday’s attack comes just ahead of Putin’s two-day trip to Beijing where he and Xi are set to deepen bilateral ties between the friendly nations.

“Drones struck Odesa ... and one of the UAVs hit a vessel owned by China,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.

“The Russians could not have been unaware of what vessel was at sea,” he added.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s navy told AFP that none of the crew -- all Chinese citizens -- were wounded and that the Chinese-owned vessel continued on its journey.

“The ship was entering for loading. After it was hit at night by a Shahed, the crew coped with the consequences on their own. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the vessel continued on its way to its port of destination,” navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said.

The Ukrainian navy named the ship as KSL Deyang.

It posted a photo showing part of the upper deck blackened after the apparent hit.

Zelensky said Russian forces had attacked Ukraine overnight with 524 attack drones and 22 missiles, including ballistic and cruise missiles.

China has regularly called for talks to end the fighting. It has never condemned Russia for sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and presents itself as a neutral party.

Turkey and the United Nations in 2022 brokered an agreement with Kyiv and Moscow to allow Ukrainian grain exports from the Black Sea, an accord scrapped by the Kremlin around one year later.