Drone Strike in Sea of Azov Kills Five Azerbaijani Sailors, Igniting Diplomatic Dispute

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that five of its citizens were killed and three others critically injured during a drone attack on two commercial cargo ships navigating the contested waters of the Sea of Azov. 

The deadly incident, reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), underscores the immediate humanitarian toll on civilian maritime crews and has triggered a complex diplomatic dispute over responsibility.

According to AFP, the targeted vessels, identified as the Natra and the Tsirkon, were sailing from Türkiye to the Russian port of Rostov-on-Don under the flags of Belize and Palau.

While Azerbaijani companies do not own the ships, 25 Azerbaijani nationals were working as crew members aboard the freighters.

Following official communications from Moscow, Baku confirmed the casualties and immediately dispatched embassy personnel to the Russian coastal city of Yeysk, where the wounded sailors are currently receiving medical treatment.

Russian officials swiftly attributed the deadly assault to Ukrainian forces. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the vessels were struck early Friday morning.

She noted that passing Russian ships and a Federal Security Service (FSB) border unit intervened to provide emergency assistance to the injured crews.

Echoing this assessment, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin explicitly blamed Kyiv.

Speaking to reporters in St. Petersburg, Galuzin condemned the use of aerial and naval drones to attack what he described as peaceful civilian vessels operating in regional waters.

Ukrainian authorities offered a contrasting narrative regarding their maritime operations in the region.

Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's unmanned systems forces, stated that Ukrainian drones successfully struck five "illegally loitering" vessels overnight in the coastal waters near the occupied ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk. 

According to AFP, Brovdi asserted the targeted ships were involved in transporting grain from occupied Ukrainian territories.

However, the Ukrainian commander did not specifically address Baku's diplomatic announcement regarding the Azerbaijani casualties, nor did he directly confirm striking the Natra and the Tsirkon.

The conflicting accounts highlight the increasingly perilous maritime dimension of the Russia-Ukraine war, where advanced drone warfare has transformed contested commercial waterways into highly volatile theaters of military operation.

As authorities continue to investigate the precise circumstances surrounding the attack, the tragic loss of the Azerbaijani sailors serves as a stark reminder of the escalating risks facing international commercial shipping.

The incident underscores the profound dangers that neutral civilian crews encounter while navigating the fraught, heavily militarized corridors of the Black and Azov seas.