A Russian warship stopped the Palau-flagged vessel Sukru Okan with warning shots at 6.40 am on August 13 near the Bulgarian coast, data from several marine traffic monitoring sites show. According to TASS, the Russian naval ship Vasily Bykov forcibly stopped the Palau-flagged dry cargo ship Sukru Okan heading for the Ukrainian port of Izmail for inspection. A Ka-29 helicopter with a group of Russian servicemen took off from the patrol ship Vasily Bykov to inspect the dry cargo ship. After the check, Sukru Okan continued sailing north. According to the navigation plan, the ship was bound for the Port of the Sulina- Romania. This is the first time Russia has fired on a commercial vessel outside Ukrainian waters.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the social network X (formerly known as Tweeter) that “Today's deliberate attack and forced inspection by Russia of Sukru Okan international civilian bulk carrier, which was en route to the Ukrainian port of Izmail, is a clear violation of international law of the sea, an act of piracy and a crime against civilian vessels of a third country in the waters of other states”.