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The Turkish owner of a cargo ship struck by drones in the Black Sea in July, along with surviving crew members and the family of a sailor killed in the attack, has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, seeking to have the strike investigated as a war crime.
The complaint centers on the Turkish-flagged bulk carrier MV Reyhan Sari, which came under attack on July 21, 2026, off the Russian port city of Novorossiysk.
The vessel was carrying coal from Russia's Taman Port to Trabzon, on Türkiye's Black Sea coast, when it was hit by what officials described as Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles.
The strike killed Savas Cakar, a 54-year-old sailor who was working in the ship's engine room at the time. Several other crew members were wounded in the attack, though their conditions and identities were not detailed in the complaint.
The ship's owner, the Turkish maritime company T&O Denizcilik, joined with Cakar's family and the surviving crew to bring the case before the ICC, asking that the attack be examined as a potential war crime under international law.
The filing has been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC, the permanent tribunal established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
The court, created under the 1998 Rome Statute, operates independently of the United Nations and has jurisdiction only over states that are party to the statute or in cases referred to it under specific legal mechanisms.
Prosecutors will first conduct a preliminary review of the allegations and supporting evidence submitted in the complaint. That review will determine whether the incident falls within the court's jurisdiction, whether the complaint is admissible, and whether the alleged conduct meets the threshold for a crime under the Rome Statute.
Only if prosecutors decide to open a formal investigation would the case advance to a further stage of proceedings. Should that investigation later conclude there is sufficient evidence against those responsible, the matter could then move toward judicial proceedings at the court.
No timeline has been given for when the preliminary review might conclude.
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