00:22A shocking double strike has raised fresh fears over the safety of commercial
00:27shipping near Russia's Black Sea coast.
00:30A Turkish sailor was killed after the vessel he was rescued onto was reportedly hit in
00:36a second drone attack near Russia's port of Novorossiysk.
00:40The dramatic sequence began when the cargo ship Nesebay came under a drone attack near
00:46Russia's Black Sea coast.
00:48The vessel was reportedly operating near Tuwopsi and was expected to load around 20,000 tons
00:54of wheat.
00:55Among those on board was 47-year-old Turkish head cook Ilkar Lazolu.
01:02After the first attack, Lazolu and 17 other sailors were evacuated from the damaged vessel,
01:08but their ordeal was far from over.
01:11The rescued crew was transferred to the Ural, a Turkish-owned Roro cargo ship.
01:17Then came another strike.
01:19The Ural was reportedly hit by a drone near Novorossiysk, meaning the sailors who had just escaped
01:27one attack suddenly found themselves under attack again.
01:31Lazolu was seriously wounded.
01:34Eight other crew members were also injured.
01:36Lazolu later died from his wounds.
01:39His family described a terrifying period of uncertainty.
01:43After the first attack, Lazolu reportedly called relatives and told them he was safe.
01:48He was then transferred to the Ural.
01:51But after the second strike, contact was lost.
01:55His family eventually learned that he had been seriously wounded.
01:58By the next morning, they were told he had died.
02:02The Ural later reached Samson in Turkey carrying Lazolu's body and the injured crew members.
02:09The incident has now triggered questions over how far the danger from the Russia-Ukraine conflict
02:15has spread into international commercial shipping.
02:18And this is where the NATO angle becomes important.
02:23Turkey is a NATO member, and the vessel involved was Turkish-owned.
02:27However, there is no indication in the available reporting that this was a NATO military ship.
02:33Instead, it was a civilian commercial vessel caught in an increasingly dangerous maritime conflict zone.
02:40The strikes came near major Russian Black Sea ports, including Novorossiysk, which is a key hub for Russian maritime trade
02:49and oil exports.
02:51Commercial vessels operating around the region have increasingly faced the threat of drones and other attacks,
02:57as both sides expand their long-range operations.
03:01Reports have linked recent attacks around Russia's ports to Ukrainian drone operations,
03:07although responsibility for these specific strikes has not been independently established in every report.
03:14What makes this case particularly alarming is the sequence.
03:19One ship was hit, its crew was rescued, then the rescue vessel itself was hit, and the second strike proved
03:27fatal.
03:28One Turkish sailor is dead, eight others were wounded,
03:31and an international civilian crew has once again been caught in the expanding danger zone around the Black Sea.
03:39For NATO member Turkey, the incident adds another layer of concern.
03:44Because this was not a battlefield warship, it was commercial shipping.
03:49And if civilian vessels can be struck while operating near major Russian ports,
03:54and even rescue ships can come under attack, the risks for international maritime traffic are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
04:03The Black Sea is turning into an increasingly dangerous maritime battlefield.
04:09And this deadly double strike shows that the consequences are no longer confined to military targets.
04:15A ship was hit, survivors were transferred, the rescue vessel was hit again, and a Turkish sailor lost his life.
04:24The question now is how many more civilian crews will be caught in the crossfire as attacks around Russia's Black
04:31Sea coast continue.
