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Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Sunday extended condolences to the families of sailors killed in the Black Sea amid the war with Russia, confirming that Turkish citizens are among the dead and offering to coordinate with Turkish authorities to clarify the circumstances of the losses.
Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Ukraine was ready to establish "the necessary contact and coordination" with Türkiye to help clarify the circumstances surrounding recent incidents and contribute to the safety of civilian maritime shipping in the region.
Tykhyi said the underlying cause of the danger in the Black Sea is Russia's war against Ukraine, arguing that Moscow has turned a significant portion of the sea into a combat zone.
He said Russia has systematically struck Ukrainian ports and civilian infrastructure, creating what he called a constant threat to commercial shipping and to the lives of sailors.
"No commercial justification can justify putting sailors' lives at risk," Tykhyi said, adding that "sailors' safety must be a priority under all circumstances."
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According to the ministry, specific areas of the Black Sea remain closed to maritime traffic in accordance with published official navigation warnings. The ministry did not specify which zones remain restricted or provide additional detail on the warnings currently in effect.
Ukraine repeated its call on ship owners, operators and crews to take a serious and thorough approach to assessing risk, to strictly follow navigation warnings, and to avoid both the areas closed to maritime traffic and Russian ports and territorial waters.
The statement comes amid a broader pattern of attacks on commercial vessels navigating the Black Sea since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, a conflict that has repeatedly disrupted civilian shipping traffic in the region and drawn in vessels and crews from multiple countries, including Türkiye.
Turkish officials have in recent months voiced repeated concern over the toll on Turkish-flagged and Turkish-owned vessels operating in the sea, and have called on both Moscow and Kyiv to take steps to protect civilian shipping lanes.
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