Published On 6/5/2026
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Last update: 17:55 (Mecca time)
Today, Friday, Azerbaijan announced that 5 of its citizens were killed and 3 were injured following drone attacks that targeted two foreign cargo ships in the Sea of Azov, while holding Russia responsible for the incident. For Ukraine.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, “At night, drone attacks were launched on two foreign cargo ships, and these attacks resulted in the death of 5 of our citizens and the injury of 3.”
According to Baku, there were 25 citizens on board the two ships, which were not affiliated with the Azerbaijani state, and the injured were transferred to a hospital in the Russian city of Yeysk.
Quoting an official Russian statement addressed to Baku, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that 25 Azerbaijani citizens were among the crew of the two non-Azerbaijani ships.
She added, “The Russian side reported that the attack resulted in the death of 5 Azerbaijani citizens and the injury of 3. The injured were transferred to a hospital in the Russian city of Yeysk overlooking the Sea of Azov, and embassy employees went to the site of the accident.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin held Ukraine responsible for the attack, in statements reported by official Russian media.
“We know very well who uses air and sea drones to attack peaceful civilian ships in the waters of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean,” he told reporters in St. Petersburg. He answered a later question, confirming that he was referring to Ukraine.
On the other hand, the commander of the Ukrainian unmanned systems forces, Robert Brovdi, stated that Ukrainian drones “targeted 5 ships that were sailing illegally on the night of June 5 in the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk, and in the coastal waters of the temporarily occupied territories.”
He explained that these planes “were used to transport grain from occupied Ukraine,” without specifically referring in his statement to what Baku announced regarding the killing of Azerbaijani citizens.
