Families await remains as authorities investigate attacks near the Azov and Black Sea. Details remain scarce, raising diplomatic tensions between Baku and Kyiv.
New deaths of Azerbaijani citizens have been confirmed in the Sea of Azov as a result of the attack on merchant ships by Ukrainian forces. The information was released on June 9 by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the ministry, during search and rescue operations the bodies of 57-year-old Hismet Aliyev and 45-year-old Fuad Orudzheva were found.
Initially, five Azerbaijani citizens were reported killed; later, Baku clarified that four people had died.
The Foreign Ministry informed that 19 crew members from two vessels would arrive in Azerbaijan on June 9, and the bodies of four of the deceased would be brought home in the coming days.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ unmanned drone forces said on June 5 that five ships linked to Russia had been struck during the night. Commander Robert “Magyar” Brovdi reported an attack on four dry cargo ships and a tanker. According to Azerbaijani authorities, the targeted dry cargo ships Natra and Circon carried a total of 25 Azerbaijani citizens on board.
In Baku, it was noted that the damaged vessels do not belong to Azerbaijan. According to MarineTraffic, Natra sailed under the Belize flag from the Turkish port of Bartın to Rostov-on-Don in Russia, Circon sailed under the Palau flag from Samsun to the port of Kavkaz.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, various targets on territories of the Russian Federation and on Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia have been subjected to air strikes. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed such actions, noting that the defense forces “systematically implement measures aimed at reducing the combat potential of the Russian occupation forces, as well as pressuring the Russian Federation to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine”.
«systematically implementing measures aimed at reducing the combat potential of the Russian occupation forces, as well as pressuring the Russian Federation to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine»
– Ukrainian General Staff
Such data underscore the complexity and tension of the situation in the region and indicate the need for further clarification of the circumstances of incidents near the Azov and Black Sea regions.