Drone Attack on a Cargo Ship in the Azov Sea Waters Kills 5 People

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan stated that two foreign cargo ships manned by 25 Azerbaijani citizens were attacked by a drone, resulting in five deaths and three others injured.

Azerbaijani media reported that the cargo ships Natra and Zircon, which were sailing from Turkey to Rostov-on-Don to load wheat, were attacked by drones on Thursday night local time in the Sea of Azov. The attack killed five Azerbaijanis.

"Last night, two foreign cargo ships manned by a total of 25 Azerbaijani citizens were attacked by drones. According to information received from the Russian side, five Azerbaijanis were killed and three others were injured as a result of the attack. The injured were treated in the Yeysk city hospital," the ministry said in a statement reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, Friday, June 5.

The Sea of Azov is an inland body of water in the Eastern European region located north of the Black Sea. The sea is connected by the Kerch Strait and is surrounded by Russian land in the north, east, and south, as well as Ukraine in the west and northwest, including the Crimean Peninsula.

The Belize-flagged Natra vessel, which lost two crew members in the attack, was hit by four drones, Azerbaijan's Trend news agency reported.

A fire occurred, but was successfully extinguished by the crew. The ship is still floating and needs a towing assistance. Two tugs have reportedly been deployed to assist Natra.

Four attacks on the Palau-flagged Zircon killed three crew members, according to Trend. The crew left the ship using lifeboats. The ship is still floating despite being on fire, the news agency quoted the Taman Maritime Rescue Coordination Center as saying.

The survivors were rescued by three ships that passed by the scene, and on Friday morning all the sailors who were rescued were taken to the port of Yeysk, Russia.

There were 12 crew members on board Natra and 14 crew members on board Zircon. The Azerbaijanis on both ships worked as private contract sailors. Both ships were reported to be unrelated to the state of Azerbaijan.

Earlier on Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told reporters that the Ukrainian government was behind the attack on cargo ships in the Sea of Azov.

The Azov Sea is one of the shallowest seas in the world, with an average depth of only about 7 to 12 meters and currently the waters in the middle of the Azov Sea are an important geopolitical and maritime focus point between Russia and Ukraine.