Five sailors killed as cargo ships struck in Sea of Azov
The cargo vessels Natra and Zirkon — both bearing hallmarks of Russia's shadow fleet and heading to load grain at a port linked to looted Ukrainian supplies — were struck overnight near Taganrog.
Published on 05/06/2026 - 14:02 GMT+2
Five Azerbaijani sailors were reportedly killed after two cargo vessels were hit by drones in the Sea of Azov near the Russian port of Taganrog, Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said on Friday.
The vessels, identified as the dry cargo ships Natra and Zirkon, were reportedly travelling from Turkey to Rostov-on-Don to load grain when the incident occurred overnight on Friday, according to media reports.
Natra, sailing under the flag of Belize, is said to have struck several times, killing two crew members. A fire on board was later brought under control, while the vessel remained afloat but reportedly lost propulsion.
The second vessel, Zirkon, registered under the flag of Palau, also reportedly sustained multiple strikes. Three crew members were reported to have been killed after a fire broke out on board, prompting the remaining crew to abandon the ship before emergency responders arrived in the area.
Preliminary information indicated that 12 Azerbaijani nationals were serving aboard Natra and 14 aboard Zirkon under private civilian employment contracts. The sailors were not linked to any official Azerbaijani state activity.
Several surviving crew members were reportedly evacuated to nearby ports for medical checks and emergency assistance, although details about their condition are limited.
Azerbaijan has consistently urged its citizens to avoid travel to or employment in conflict zones, stressing that the safety of civilians cannot be fully guaranteed.
Shipping databases show that Zirkon previously operated under the Russian flag before being re-registered in Palau in 2022. Natra has also flown other flags in the past, including those of the Cook Islands and Vanuatu, according to maritime websites.
The flag histories of both vessels are consistent with Russia's shadow fleet — the network of ageing, often uninsured ships sailing under flags of convenience that Moscow uses to bypass Western sanctions on its maritime trade.
Belize and Palau are among the most commonly used registries in the Russian shadow fleet. The EU and US have sanctioned numerous vessels in this network for carrying Russian oil, although neither Natra nor Zirkon appeared on published sanctions lists at the time of the incident.
The commander of Ukraine's unmanned systems forces Robert Brovdi said Ukrainian drones had "struck five illegally loitering vessels during the night of 5 June 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.
The ships were heading to Rostov-on-Don, one of Russia's major grain export ports on the Sea of Azov.
Both Rostov-on-Don and the nearby port of Taganrog have been repeatedly identified by Western governments and Ukraine as transit points for grain looted from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has systematically stripped grain from occupied regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Satellite tracking of vessels has corroborated Ukrainian and Western claims that significant quantities of grain have left Russian Black Sea and Azov ports.
Ukraine has conducted an extensive naval drone campaign in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov since 2022, targeting Russian warships and commercial vessels.
