A sailor from Yamunanagar district was killed after a missile strike hit the merchant vessel he was serving on while it was leaving the Ukrainian port of Odesa on July 19. The attack has left his family and village in mourning.
Yamunanagar Sailor Identified Among Victims of Ukraine Missile Strike
The deceased has been identified as Gurpreet Singh Bath, a resident of Panjeton village in Yamunanagar. He was one of the 17 crew members on board the merchant vessel Golden Leo when it came under attack. According to the original story, Gurpreet's father, Kirtan Singh, confirmed that his son was the family's only child. Gurpreet had been married for about one-and-a-half years and is survived by his wife and their six-month-old daughter.
Family Receives Confirmation of Death
The family received official confirmation of Gurpreet's death through a phone call from the shipping company on Monday afternoon. The news has left Panjeton village in mourning, with relatives and neighbors gathering to support the grieving family.
Our Take: A Tragic Reminder of War's Toll on Civilians
This is a heartbreaking story. Gurpreet Singh Bath was a young man with a family — a wife and a six-month-old daughter who will now grow up without a father. The fact that he was the family's only child makes this loss even more devastating for his parents. While the geopolitical reasons for the war in Ukraine are complex, the human cost is simple and brutal. Seafarers like Gurpreet are not soldiers. They are workers doing a job, often far from home, to support their families. Their deaths in a conflict they are not part of is a tragedy that should not be overlooked. Our thoughts are with his family and the entire Panjeton village community.