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Five Azerbaijani citizens were killed and three others wounded in a drone attack targeting two foreign cargo ships in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Citing an official communication from Russian authorities, the ministry said 25 Azerbaijani nationals were among the crews of the two vessels, identified as Natra and Zirkon, which were not owned by Azerbaijan.
"The two cargo ships are not owned by the Azerbaijani state. According to information provided by Russian authorities, five Azerbaijani citizens were killed and three others wounded in the attack. The injured crew members were hospitalized in the Russian city of Yeysk," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said in a statement.
The ministry said it is coordinating with relevant state institutions, diplomatic missions and the competent authorities of the countries involved.
Several staff members from Azerbaijan's Embassy in Russia have been dispatched to the scene, it added.
"The issues related to the condition of our citizens, their repatriation and the provision of necessary consular assistance are being closely monitored," Hajizada said.
The ministry expressed condolences to the families and relatives of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin blamed Ukraine for the strike in comments carried by Russian state media.
"We know very well who is using drones, both aerial and naval, to attack peaceful civilian vessels in the waters of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea," Galuzin told journalists in St. Petersburg.
When asked to clarify, he said he was referring to Ukraine.
Kyiv did not directly comment on Azerbaijan's statement, but the commander of Ukraine's unmanned systems forces, Robert Brovdi, said Ukrainian drones had targeted vessels in ports located in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
Brovdi said Ukrainian drones had "struck five illegally loitering vessels during the night of June 5 in the ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk, and in the coastal waters of the temporarily occupied territories."
He alleged the vessels were being used to transport grain from occupied Ukrainian territories.
Brovdi did not specifically address Azerbaijan's statement that five Azerbaijani citizens were killed in the attack.
No further details about the circumstances of the incident, the ownership of the vessels or the cargo they were carrying were immediately available.
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