Russian missile reportedly hits Turkish Ukraine-bound cargo ship near Romania

Bucharest and Kyiv's senior officials have condemned the attack, claiming Russia was behind it.

Transcript

00:00A cargo vessel carrying grain from Ukraine towards Egypt was struck by what is presumed

00:06to be a Russian missile in the early hours of Thursday.

00:10The incident took place about 30 miles away from Romania's coastline, outside national

00:16waters, but within Romania's exclusive maritime economic zone.

00:21Immediately after the explosion was felt on board, the ship's captain radioed for help

00:27and asked to change the ship's course towards Romania's Constanta harbor in order to be

00:32able to assess the damage.

00:35Romania's coastguard reported that no casualties were counted so far and also said that a rescue

00:41operation was not necessary.

00:44This incident, of course, sparked a number of reactions from Romania's high-ranking officials.

00:50First of all, Romania's Minister of Defense said in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart

00:56that this turns the Black Sea from an international cooperation area into an active war zone.

01:03And also, Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying, and I quote,

01:09that this is an unprecedented escalation in the illegal and unjustified war that Russia

01:15is carrying against Ukraine.