India’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it summoned a senior Russian diplomat to protest an attack on a cargo ship in the Black Sea this weekend that killed four Indian crew members.

Ukraine said Russia hit the Golden Leo — a Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship manned by a crew from India and Syria — with three cruise missiles on Sunday, killing 10 people including four Indian citizens.

Vladimir Ladanov, Russian chargé d’affaires, was summoned to India’s Foreign Ministry following the incident.

“Such attacks undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce,” India’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

New Delhi expressed “grave concerns and unequivocal condemnation” of the attack and asked Ladanov to convey to Moscow that “the targeting of commercial shipping and the resulting loss of innocent civilian lives are unacceptable and must be avoided.”

India is one of the largest contributors of sailors to merchant shipping worldwide, with more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025, according to the country’s shipping ministry.

Russia and India consider each other “time-tested” friends with ties dating back to the Soviet era. However, their relationship has come under significant pressure since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters and AFP contributed reporting.