A Turkish operated merchant vessel, the MV Aya, has been hit by a Russian Kh-22 missile launched by a Tu-22M Backfire bomber. The Belize-owned, St. Kitts & Nevis flagged ship was sailing from the port of Chornomorsk, carrying 26,550 tons of grain for Egypt.
According to people familiar with the incident, the ship was hit by the missile at around 23:05 on September 11, 75km (46 miles) south of Snake Island. This places it in Romanian EEZ.
Powerful Anti-Ship Missile
The Kh-22 missile, known by the NATO reporting name AS-4 Kitchen, is a very large anti-ship missile. It flies at Mach 4.6 (5,600 km/h; 3,500 mph) and carries a 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) warhead. This makes it much larger, and harder hitting, than Harpoon or Exocet class missiles. The missile was launched from a Russian Tu-22M Backfire bomber. Only Russia operates this aircraft or missile.
The missile was developed during the Cold War to attack aircraft carriers and other high-value targets. While old, it remains formidable. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine Russia has employed it against ground targets, including Snake Island.
Modern merchant ships have proven very resilient to missiles, although the risk to the vessel and crew remains high. Context is everything. This is demonstrated by the Houthi Movement who have struck a number of vessels with ballistic missiles in the Red Sea, resulting in broadly similar damage.
Escalation
Attacking a civilian ship may be seen as an escalation on Russia’s part. Possibly the incident was an accident, but the ship’s distance from any military targets suggests that this is less likely. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement:
“Russian missile against a wheat cargo bound for Egypt. Tonight, Russia launched a strike on an ordinary civilian vessel in the Black Sea right after it left Ukrainian territorial waters. Fortunately, there were no casualties, according to preliminary reports.”
Russia has systematically attacked Ukrainian grain export infrastructure, but has previously stopped short of attacking merchant ships since the expiry of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Civilian vessels are protected under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This allows freedom of navigation and the use of the high seas for peaceful purposes. There are also a number of norms of international humanitarian law.
After receiving damage, the vessel changed course to the seaport of Constanta. At the moment, the ship is in the territorial waters of Romania on the traverse of the port of Constanta. According to available information, there are no victims among the ship’s 23 crew.
