Bangladeshi killed in Russia-Ukraine war

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - A Bangladeshi sailor was killed late Wednesday in a missile attack on a goods-laden ship at a Ukrainian seaport, according to official sources.

The victim was identified as Hadisur Rahman, who was a crew member of a Bangladeshi ship, Banglar Samriddhi, or Bengal’s Prosperity, and was from the southern coastal district of Barguna.

The ship is a bulk carrier built in 2018 and is currently sailing under the flag of Bangladesh.

It is the first death of a Bangladeshi national in the Russia-Ukraine war that Dhaka has claimed is under its close monitoring, according to a foreign ministry statement.

"We are shocked at this death and we expect that this will be the first and last death of any Bangladeshi expatriate in Ukraine," Bangladesh's envoy in Poland, Sultana Laila Hossain, told Anadolu Agency via telephone.

The ship, owned by state-run Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, has been stranded at the Olvia Seaport because of the war that began Feb. 24.

A total of 29 crew members, all Bangladeshi nationals, were working on the ship and had been able to manage the catastrophe as the Russian missile hit, according to sources.

Bangladesh government data said around 1,500 nationals have been working in Ukraine and many have been transported to neighboring countries. Some other private sources, however, record the number of Bangladeshi citizens in Ukraine at 2,500.

“Till Wednesday morning, 532 Bangladeshi nationals working at different parts of Ukraine have moved to the neighboring safe places,” said Hossain.

Bangladesh has no diplomatic office in Ukraine but its Embassy in Poland handles nationals working in Ukraine.

Hossain said many other Bangladeshis have crossed to other states like Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

“Still now some Bangladeshi nationals, most of whom have been isolated and trapped inside the country, are trying to leave Ukraine for safer places. We are constantly communicating with them and trying to bring them out,” she said.

She noted that their target is to move the last Bangladeshi national to any safer place from Ukraine.