Sawt Falasteen - Ukraine blames Russia for deadly strike on Turkish cargo ship

Ukraine's navy said Russia had launched three cruise missiles at the Golden Leo, which flies the flag of Guinea-Bissau, as it was "leaving the combat zone with a cargo of grain".

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said the crew had included citizens of Syria and India, while Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said the vessel was struck near Odesa after leaving port.

"Eight crew members were rescued. Two of them were injured. Unfortunately, as of now, six sailors are confirmed dead, and four more are missing," Kyiv's reconstruction, infrastructure and transport minister Mykola Kalashnyk said on Telegram.

Sybiga confirmed a Ukrainian maritime pilot was killed in the attack in a statement on X.

"While the world is still responding to Russia's brutal overnight attack on Kyiv, Moscow continues its campaign of terror throughout the day," he added.

Overnight, Russia had fired two dozen ballistic missiles at Kyiv, killing one person and wounding 16, in an ever-escalating air war that is taking an increasing civilian toll on both sides.

On the Russian side, a Ukrainian strike killed one person in the Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram.

- Dozens of missiles -

AFP journalists in Kyiv saw charred apartment blocks with windows blown out and mangled, overturned cars.

"The missiles just kept coming one after another, the explosions were powerful, it was horrible," 47-year-old Kyiv resident Ganna Zagorodnia told AFP.

"I thought that life was just about to end."

In a statement on social media, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian attack had been "one of its largest ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv," launching more than 40 missiles, 25 of them ballistic.

One person had been killed and 16 others wounded, he added.

Fresh Russian strikes Sunday afternoon killed four and wounded 20 at a post warehouse in Kharkiv, the country's eastern second-biggest city, said local military governor Oleg Syniegubov.

And in the Black Sea city of Odesa, a teenager was killed and 12 wounded, including a two-year-old child, after a Russian attack on an amusement park, said governor Oleg Kiper.

Russia, which denies targeting civilians, said it struck military facilities and logistics hubs in Kyiv and port infrastructure used by the Ukrainian army in Odesa.

- Generals back commander -

Ukraine, now in its fifth year of war, faces intensifying Russian missile attacks.

In recent days, it has also had to contend with rare domestic political instability triggered by a sudden wartime shakeup of its defence leadership.

Thousands have gathered in big cities across Ukraine over the last three days to protest the removal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Demonstrators also called for the resignation of Ukraine's chief commander Oleksandr Syrsky, who reportedly had demanded Fedorov's dismissal after the two clashed over how to counter the Russian invasion.

On Sunday, two experienced top Ukrainian generals -- the navy and the air assault force chiefs -- backed Syrsky. In rare political statements, they called for unity, arguing that divisions played into the enemy's hands.

"It is particularly painful to hear peremptory judgments from people who have never issued combat orders, never taken responsibility for the lives and health of the personnel," said air assault force commander Oleg Apostol, referring to Fedorov's criticism of Syrsky.

Navy commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa said: "Doubts about the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) during wartime are unacceptable."

Fedorov, 35, who never served in the army, criticised the military's slow bureaucracy and a lack of flexibility, questioning whether Ukraine could defeat Russia with Syrsky in charge of its armed forces.

- Air defence hunger -

Since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Ukraine has suffered from a shortage of missiles for its US-designed air-defence Patriot systems, essential for intercepting ballistic rounds.

Exploiting the shortage, Russia has intensified its air raids on Kyiv in recent weeks, launching barrages of ballistic missiles roughly once a week.

"Protection against ballistic missiles is our constant and top priority right now. Interceptors are needed every day," Zelensky said.

Kyiv has in recent months intensified its strikes on Russian territory, disrupting the lives of ordinary Russians -- strikes it calls retribution for more than four years of bombardments against its territory.

O.Salim--SF-PST