Turkish fishing boat sinks after Black Sea attack, one dead
A Turkish fishing vessel, the "Duru 67," sank following an attack in the waters off Sevastopol, Crimea, leaving one fisherman dead and four others wounded by shrapnel. While Ankara has confirmed the strike, no party involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has claimed responsibility.
Another nearby vessel rescued five fishermen during the incident. One of the wounded succumbed to critical injuries during an medical evacuation toward the Turkish coast involving coast guard and emergency teams from the port of Inebolu.
"Around 23:00, our Coast Guard received information about an accident in the shared territorial waters of Ukraine and Turkey. The Coast Guard stated that there were four injured and, unfortunately, one death, and they requested medical assistance. There were four injured, they had injuries caused mainly by shrapnel fragments," stated Fevzi Yavuzylmaz, head of the medical team.
Heavily damaged, the "Duru 67" later sank in international waters. The incident follows recent public warnings from Ankara regarding an uncontrolled escalation in the Black Sea after a previous strike targeted a Turkish cargo ship.
Separately, five Azerbaijani sailors died and three others were wounded a day earlier following an attack on two commercial ships in the Sea of Azov's Taganrog Gulf. These foreign-flagged vessels were heading to the Russian port of Rostov-on-Don to load grain.
According to Ukrainian forces, recent drone strikes have targeted a total of five vessels across the ports of Mariupol, Berdiansk, and occupied southern waters. Most of the targeted ships were cargo vessels and tankers involved in Russian military logistics. The Foreign Ministry in Baku, alongside Kyiv and Moscow, has declined to comment on the deaths of the Azerbaijani sailors.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
