Drone strike sinks Turkish freighter in Black Sea, kills two

A commercial freighter, the Royad Mammadov, sank in the Black Sea on Monday after being struck by a drone, resulting in two fatalities and 11 crew members rescued. The ship, flagged to Saint Kitts and Nevis and carrying grain from Ukraine to Italy, caught fire following the attack and went down in Romania's exclusive economic zone, approximately 30 nautical miles south of Sfantul Gheorghe in Tulcea County.

Romania's Coast Guard was alerted around 11 a.m. local time, mobilizing rescue vessels and helicopters. All 11 surviving crew members were evacuated, with some requiring emergency medical care airlifted by helicopter. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the vessel was attacked by two Russian drones in neutral waters. Zelenskyy stated that the crew included Azerbaijani and Indian nationals, and that the captain was among the two who died, though the status of one crew member remained uncertain at the time of reporting. Russia did not immediately comment on the incident.

The attack adds to ongoing security concerns in the Black Sea, a major commercial shipping route that has faced heightened threats since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Earlier in 2026, drones struck tankers near offshore platforms and a container ship operated by a Russian state-linked transport company. Romania's navy has also conducted multiple operations against naval drones and sea mines in the region since the war began.