Conflict before Putin's visit: Russian drone hits Chinese ship

Conflict before Putin's visit: Russian drone hits Chinese ship

On the night of May 18, Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmitry Pletyonchuk announced that Russian troops launched a drone attack on a Chinese merchant ship in the Black Sea. He said that the attack was carried out by a Shahed drone, and there were Chinese citizens on board. Pletyonchuk, on his social media page, called it a "terrible mistake" after the Russian military targeted the Chinese ship. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also reacted to the incident, noting that the Russian side must have known that the ship belonged to China.

It is noted that Russia used a total of 524 drones and 22 ballistic and cruise missiles in the night attacks on May 18. The attacks were recorded in the Dnieper, Odessa, Chernihiv, Kirovograd and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine. Russian forces have been regularly attacking civilian ships and port infrastructure in the Black Sea. Since the beginning of 2026, 193 infrastructure facilities and 25 civilian ships have been damaged.

The incident occurred on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing, which is expected to take place on May 19-20. During the trip, it is planned to discuss strategic cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, as well as global and regional issues.