Russia has expressed condolences to the family of Bangladeshi sailor Hadisur Rahman, who was killed in a "missile attack" on board Banglar Samriddhi anchored at the Olvia port in Ukraine. "We express deep condolences to the near and dear ones of the deceased. The Russian side bends every effort to ensure safe departure of the Bangladeshi ship from the port," said Russian Embassy in Dhaka in a statement today on its verified Facebook page. It also said it is establishing the circumstances around the killing of the Bangladeshi.

The statement said the Command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, relying on the objective monitoring data, has repeatedly stated that, "During the retreat, the Ukrainian nationalists open indiscriminate fire and deliberately capture hostages, use them as a 'human shield', resorting to the well-known terrorists' tactic.

It also provided hotline numbers -- +7 495 498-34-46, +7 495 498-42-11, +7 495 498-41-09 -- and email [email protected] for resolving the humanitarian issues arising from the special military operation in Ukraine, including the requests for evacuation of the civilians. Hadisur, third engineer of the ship MV Banglar Samriddhi, was killed as a result of a missile attack at 9:25 pm Wednesday (Bangladesh time), BSC Managing Director Commodore Suman Mahmud confirmed to The Daily Star last night.

Other 28 crew members managed to douse the blaze immediately while the rest of the crew were safe, he said. The vessel reached the outer anchorage of Ukrainian port Olvia on February 23 to load ball clay. As the conflict between Ukraine and Russia deteriorated, BSC cancelled the cargo load plan and directed the master of the ship not to berth at the port and shift to international waters. However, due to a delay in getting port clearance, the ship failed to leave the port immediately and it got stranded as the port's operations halted after the Russian invasion.

Source: Daily Star