Five Azerbaijanis killed in Azov Sea drone strike on cargo ships, Baku says
Baku says citizens among crew hit as Russia blames Ukraine for Sea of Azov strike
Five Azerbaijanis were killed and three wounded in a drone attack Friday on two foreign cargo ships in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said.
Russia said Ukraine carried out the attack. The head of Ukraine's drone forces said Kyiv had struck vessels transporting illegal cargo in the area, without commenting on the statements by Baku and Moscow or the reports of crew killed.
Citing an official Russian communication to Baku, Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said 25 of its citizens were among the crews of the two vessels, which it said were not owned by Azerbaijani companies.
"The Russian side provided relevant information that, as a result of the attack, a total of five of our citizens were killed and three were wounded," it said.
Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.
It said the wounded had been taken to hospital in the Russian city of Yeysk on the Azov Sea, and that embassy staff had travelled to the scene.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the vessels, the Natra and Tsirkon, were attacked early Friday while sailing from Turkey to the port of Rostov-on-Don under the flags of Belize and Palau respectively.
"According to available information, the vessels were attacked by Ukrainian drones," she said, adding that there were dead and wounded on both ships, including Azerbaijani citizens.
"The injured sailors were assisted by a passing Russian vessel and a Russian (security service) FSB border unit" and "the circumstances of the incident are being established".
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin also blamed Ukraine for the attack, in comments quoted by Russian state media.
"We know very well who is using drones, both aerial and naval, to attack peaceful civilian vessels in the waters of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea," he told journalists in Saint Petersburg.
Answering a follow-up question, he confirmed that he was referring to Ukraine.
The commander of Ukraine's unmanned systems forces, Robert Brovdi, said Ukrainian drones had "struck five illegally loitering vessels during the night of June 5 in the ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk, and in the coastal waters of the temporarily occupied territories".
He said they were being used to ship grain from occupied Ukraine and did not refer specifically to Baku's statement that five Azerbaijani citizens were killed.
