A Turkish-owned vessel sailing from Syria to Romania sustained heavy damage after a drone attack in the Danube Delta on Sept 17. The M/V Mariam M, a civilian cargo ship, had its bridge burned out and its accommodation block ignited by Russian forces as it approached Galati near the Romanian border.

Casualty reports differ between sources. Ukrainian officials state the captain died and three crew were injured, while Turkish reports list the captain and a harbor pilot as deceased with 13 injured.

Kiev identified the Tanzanian-flagged ship as a civilian craft en route to a Ukrainian port. The strike follows an announcement by the Russian Defence Ministry on Sept 15 that its forces hit a tanker at Izmail and a ferry at Chornomorsk, alleging the ships were providing military supplies to Ukraine.