TASS: Three Russian Sailors Were Injured in U.S. Airstrike

The U.S. airstrike on the Houthi-controlled port of Ras Isa on April 18 was intended to hit energy infrastructure, but the massive blasts also killed 70-80 people and injured about 170 more, according to Houthi-controlled media. Three of the injured people appear to have been Russian sailors who were working aboard a foreign-flagged product tanker; the vessel reportedly called at Ras Isa despite the U.S. State Department's warning that all ships should cease trading at Houthi-controlled ports.

The vessel in question was the 54,000 dwt product tanker Seven Pearls. Flagged in St. Kitts and owned anonymously in Liberia, the aging Seven Pearls has a history of port calls in Houthi territory. Over the past year, she has regularly traded between the UAE, Djibouti, and Houthi areas of Yemen, interrupted by a three-month detour to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Seven Pearls' AIS history, April 2024-March 2025 (Pole Star)

Seven Pearls' AIS signature has not been detected by commercial AIS services in more than a month, and her last transmission put her in the vicinity of the Suez Canal. However, she was present at Ras Isa during the American airstrike, Russian charge d'affaires in Yemen Yevgeny Kudrov told TASS.

According to Kudrov, three sailors from Seven Pearls were injured in the attack. As of April 29, one of them remains hospitalized and may require surgery for a serious eye injury, Kudrov said. "According to our data, their lives are not in danger," he said. The ship and the remaining 19 crewmembers are moored "at a safe distance" from Yemen's coast, according to Kudrov.

Houthi representatives have named the Russian victims as Roman Kashpor, Igor Kazachenko and Artyom Vanin.

Seven Pearls' location could not be immediately confirmed because of the lack of AIS data; however, bystander videos show that at least one vessel was alongside at the port's piers during the strike, and satellite photos confirm that merchant tankers were present before and after. (The hijacked car carrier Galaxy Leader is also visible in the footage.)

#BREAKING Footage recorded by Turkish personnel from the MT PALM Oil Tanker while the U.S. was bombing the Ras Isa port of Yemen. pic.twitter.com/kFlNbAEUs1

— The Global Monitor (@theglobal4u) April 28, 2025

April 17th, Turkish Navy film air strikes from the US Navy and USAF on the Houthi controlled Ras Isa Oil Port in Western Yemen. Reports that the bombing included strikes from B-2's based out of Garcia. pic.twitter.com/V3cirZss6H

— Globe Sentinel (@GlobeSentinels) April 28, 2025

The Trump administration had previously warned that it would penalize any vessels that continued to serve Houthi trading interests. "The United States will not tolerate any country or commercial entity providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis, including offloading ships and provisioning oil at Houthi-controlled ports," a State Department spokesperson said on April 9.

As of April 28, multiple foreign vessels remained at Ras Isa, according to the House Foreign Affairs Committee (below).

Any captain, crew, insurer, or facilitator engaged in the offloading of oil products at any Houthi-controlled port, including Ras Isa, will be treated as a direct target for sanctions by the United States government.

Leave now or suffer the consequences. pic.twitter.com/PKaTO1j72f

— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) April 28, 2025