At least 10 people have been killed as Russian attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea escalate.

The death toll from Russia’s attack on a cargo ship off the coast of Odesa, Ukraine, has reached 10.

The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship was hit by Russian cruise missiles on Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

A search and rescue operation was launched and lasted through the night. On Monday morning, the Ukrainian Ports Authority said nine crew members and one pilot had been killed.

In recent weeks, the Odesa region has been under constant attack.

In July alone, 28 people were killed in Russian attacks in the region, Governor Oleh Kiper told Ukraine TV on Monday.

Russian attacks on cargo ships in the Black Sea have also increased.

Sunday’s attack on the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo was the deadliest of its kind.

These flagged vessels carrying international crews support Ukraine’s last remaining maritime export corridor to the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts and to Turkey.

Seaborne exports account for more than two-thirds of Ukraine’s agricultural exports, worth around $9bn (£6.7bn) – an important source of income for Kiev.

In the four-and-a-half years since Moscow launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine, fighting in the Black Sea has been at the center of much of the dispute.

While Ukrainian ships cannot move beyond the area encircled by Odesa, Russia controls several beaches, and Kiev’s jets force Moscow to keep its assets in its eastern Black Sea naval bases.