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Turkey has expressed concern over the growing spillover of the Russia-Ukraine war into the Black Sea after two Turkish-owned civilian vessels were attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles, injuring several crew members, including Turkish nationals.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the vessels, Yaşar and Nadezhda, came under drone attack on Monday evening shortly after departing Russia’s Port of Novorossiysk.
The ministry said the welfare of the injured crew members remained its top priority.
“The safety of our citizens is our utmost priority and their condition is being closely monitored,” the statement said.
Ankara warned that the latest attack reflects the growing risks posed to civilian maritime traffic as hostilities between Russia and Ukraine increasingly extend into the Black Sea.
“We are deeply concerned that the war between Russia and Ukraine is spreading further into the Black Sea, also affecting civilian vessels, despite all our warnings,” the ministry said.
It cautioned that unless urgent steps were taken to prevent further escalation, the consequences would extend beyond the conflict itself.
Turkey called on all parties involved in the conflict to take immediate action to protect commercial shipping and ensure freedom of navigation.
“We therefore reiterate our call to all relevant actors, particularly the warring parties, to urgently implement concrete measures to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.”
The appeal came after a drone strike hit the Turkish-operated cargo vessel Nadezhda near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, leaving three crew members seriously injured.
Turkish maritime authorities said all 22 crew members were evacuated, while a fire continued to burn in the vessel’s bow following the attack. The party responsible for the strike has not been officially identified.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Black Sea has become a critical theatre of the conflict.
The waterway serves as a vital route for exports of grain, fertiliser and other commodities from both Russia and Ukraine, making maritime security central to global food supplies.
Turkey, which borders the Black Sea and controls access through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits under the Montreux Convention, has sought to maintain relations with both Moscow and Kyiv while repeatedly calling for the protection of civilian shipping.
Ankara also played a key mediating role in earlier agreements that enabled Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, although those arrangements later broke down as fighting intensified.
Regarding Attacks on Turkish-Owned Civilian Vessels in the Black Sea https://t.co/rCIe3M26M6 pic.twitter.com/9KbZ9lTeTo
— Turkish MFA (@MFATurkiye) August 4, 2026
