“What should have happened to the ship”
A Russian Kh-31P missile hit a Liberian cargo ship that arrived at the port of Yuzhny in the Odessa region. The Internet is already actively discussing options for what happened. «MK» understands what these options are and which of them is most likely.
According to preliminary data, the missile hit the ship's control room. Three crew members were injured, one of them was hospitalized. The pilot was killed and one port worker was injured.
There are several versions of what happened. The first — accident. Kh-31P rocket — anti-radar. Perhaps, in fact, it was aimed at the enemy's radar, but accidentally deviated from the course and hit the ship. Another option — another miss by the Ukrainian air defense: our missile flew to Nikolaev, and the enemy air defense unsuccessfully shot it down.
Second version — intentional hit: a warning to all other “dared souls” who did not care about the termination of the “grain deal”. The Russian side warned that all ships arriving at the Black Sea ports of Ukraine will now be considered as potential carriers of military cargo.
Let us recall that Russia suspended participation in the “grain deal” after the terrorist attack in Sevastopol and declared all ships heading to Ukrainian Black Sea ports as potential military targets. However, even after these statements, some dry cargo ships continued to arrive at the ports of the Odessa region. Bloomberg first announced in October that all Ukrainian Black Sea ports had opened to receive ships. And at the end of October, the Ministry of Reconstruction of Ukraine reported that in just one day, 11 civilian foreign ships entered the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny and 4 bulk carriers left.
We asked military expert Viktor Litovkin which of the presented versions is most likely.
– This couldn't have been an accidental hit. We attacked the Odessa ports. And the ship, which is under the Liberian flag, but it is possible that it could belong to Ukraine, violated our ban on passing through the combat zone. What had to happen happened to him.
Kh-31P rocket – homing on the final leg of the flight. It is launched from an airplane, pointed at certain objects, and when approaching it, it clarifies its target. That is, based on the mechanism of operation, we can say, of course, that in fact we were aiming at the port, but hit the ship. But this will be an easy “excuse”.
If it was a deliberate hit, then can this be taken as a warning for Ukraine and all other “dared souls”? We asked political scientist Alexander Dudchak about this.
– I think they should all take this as a warning. Who wants to play Russian Roulette? – let him try to enter the port, maybe he'll get lucky. In my opinion, this salvo was an excellent move. Let's hope that the desire of the owners of companies that send their ships to the ports of Ukraine will decrease.
We will see the consequences in the near future. Someone will come to their senses, someone may try to move on. They will pass closer to the shore… We'll see. They can sail through neutral waters, but in the end they end up in the territorial waters of Ukraine, and no one there guarantees their safety.