The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of the captain of the ship attacked near Odessa.
The captain of the civilian cargo ship Atlas Bey was killed as a result of a drone attack off the coast of Odessa. The body of the Azerbaijani citizen has been found and will be sent back to his homeland.
"Caucasian Knot" reported that 11 Azerbaijani citizens were on board the civilian cargo ship Atlas Bey, which was attacked by a drone off the coast of Odessa on July 14. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported on July 15 that ten of them were evacuated, and the search for the captain continues.
The body of the captain of the civilian cargo ship Atlas Bey, Azerbaijani citizen Samad Nasrullayev, has been found and delivered to Odessa, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported on the evening of July 16.
"As soon as the necessary procedures are completed, the body will be sent to our country. We express our deepest condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased captain. May Allah have mercy on him!" - the message published on the official website of the Foreign Ministry states.
The agency again did not specify who is responsible for the attack on the civilian ship owned by the Turkish company Okean Maritime. Twelve hours before the report of the deceased captain, the Foreign Ministry announced that the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov had gone on an official visit to the Russian Federation to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on July 17.
On July 15, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry urged citizens of the country to "refrain from traveling to regions where military operations are taking place," including to avoid working on vehicles and sea vessels operating through such regions.
"The security situation in the region remains extremely tense, especially due to the ongoing military operations in the Black Sea basin (...) Given the geographical location and intensity of military actions, the risks for civilian vessels and their crews have significantly increased," the official news agency "AzerTag" quoted the agency's message.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the Russian ambassador in Baku, Mikhail Evdokimov, was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on July 6, where he was handed a note of protest regarding the drone attack on July 5 on the SOCAR gas station in the Mykolaiv region. Russian strikes on SOCAR facilities in Ukraine are viewed by Baku as part of a broader set of disagreements and an attempt to coerce Azerbaijan into abandoning its own foreign policy course, analysts interviewed by "Caucasian Knot" stated.