Azernews.Az

Ulviyya Poladova

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On the night of June 5, 2026, two cargo ships - Natra and Zirkon - sailing in ballast condition from Turkiye to load grain in Rostov-on-Don in the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov, were attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), AzerNEWS reports, citing Azerbaijani media, with reference to data from the Taman Maritime Rescue and Coordination Center received at 3:04 a.m. Moscow time.

As a result of the attacks, five people were killed.

"Four UAV hits were recorded on the Natra; two crew members were killed, the fire was extinguished by the crew, the vessel remains afloat and requires towing. Four hits were also recorded on the Zircon ship near the superstructure, three crew members were killed, the crew abandoned the ship in lifeboats, and the vessel is burning," the operational report said.

The Natra bulk carrier, sailing under the Belize flag, had 12 crew members on board, while the Zirkon bulk carrier, sailing under the Palau flag, had 14 crew members. All crew members were citizens of Azerbaijan employed individually as contracted seafarers. Both vessels sail under foreign flags and are not owned by the Azerbaijani state.

The surviving sailors were rescued by three vessels passing through the area where the incident occurred. By early morning, all rescued crew members had been transported to the port of Yeysk. Two tugboats were dispatched to the scene to tow the damaged but still-floating Natra.