TEDY Drone Attack Near Odesa: What Happened to the Azerbaijani Crew

The clearest established account is that the tug TEDY came under drone attack in the Black Sea near Ukraine’s Odesa region on September 9, with further reported attacks continuing into September 10 as it headed toward Constanța, Romania. Two Azerbaijani crew members were killed and two were injured. The vessel’s flag, ownership and mixed-nationality crew underline how the Black Sea war has put international commercial shipping at risk. 12313

Confirmed casualties and hospitalization

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry identified the dead sailors as Aslan Aliyev and Asim Gasimov. It said Imran Novruzov and Rauf Aliyev were injured and taken to a hospital in Chornomorsk, Ukraine. Azerbaijani officials said they were coordinating assistance, including the return of the injured sailors and the bodies of those killed. 124

Reports describing the injuries vary in detail: one account characterized the two survivors as suffering burns, while Azerbaijan’s official account confirmed the injuries and hospitalization without specifying their severity. 29

What is known about TEDY and its crew

TEDY was reported as a Somali-flagged, Turkish-owned tug or offshore tug/supply vessel. Contemporary reporting described a crew of 10: four Azerbaijani citizens, three Turkish nationals, two German nationals and one Ukrainian national. 313

That means six crew members were not among the four Azerbaijani sailors named in Baku’s statement. Available reporting indicates the incident involved no further confirmed Azerbaijani casualties, but it does not provide a sufficiently reliable, complete account of the identities, medical treatment or final condition of every other crew member. Claims about the treatment of all six should therefore be treated cautiously. 368

How the attacks unfolded

Reporting agrees on the broad sequence: TEDY was first hit near Odesa, then moved or attempted to move toward Constanța after the initial damage. It was subsequently attacked again during the night. 391013

The precise number of strikes is less certain in the supplied accounts. Several reports describe an initial attack followed by two more attacks while the tug sailed toward Romania; another describes the vessel as attacked twice across September 9–10. The safest conclusion is that TEDY was subjected to multiple reported drone attacks, rather than treating a specific strike count as settled. 91013

Russia’s stated rationale—and what remains unproven

Ukraine-linked reporting attributed the attacks to Russian drones. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had struck a tug escorting vessels into Odesa port. 79

That statement is not the same as independently verified proof that TEDY itself carried military cargo or was transporting military supplies. The sources provided do not establish the tug’s cargo, its specific operational task at the time, or evidence supporting a military-supply characterization. The distinction matters: the deaths, injuries and attacks are well documented, while the asserted military rationale remains contested in public reporting. 129

Azerbaijan’s response

Baku confirmed the casualties, said its diplomatic and relevant state bodies were coordinating on the case, and reported efforts to repatriate the injured sailors and the deceased. Maritime reporting also described Azerbaijan as issuing a warning after the attack. 1213

The supplied material does not provide enough reliable evidence to substantiate a claimed separate June incident involving five Azerbaijani deaths, or to draw a direct causal link between such a claim and TEDY. It is likewise insufficient to make a firm assessment of the broader Baku–Moscow diplomatic consequences beyond the immediate sensitivity of Azerbaijani citizens being killed in the conflict zone.

Why the attack matters for Black Sea shipping

The TEDY incident occurred during a wider escalation in attacks on ships, ports and maritime infrastructure in the Black Sea. Reuters reported in August that Ukraine had proposed a halt to attacks on civilian targets in the region, amid concern that strikes on vessels and ports could affect food supplies. 17

Türkiye had also called for a mutual moratorium on attacks against commercial vessels and maritime-related sites. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on September 8 that such a moratorium could not be effectively monitored. 2224

The broader security concern is not limited to one vessel. Reporting before the TEDY attack described a summer in which Russia and Ukraine had attacked each other’s ships and port infrastructure, disrupting grain exports and heightening concern over food prices and maritime safety. 20

Bottom line

Four facts are firmly supported: TEDY was a Somali-flagged, Turkish-owned tug; it was attacked near Odesa and reportedly attacked again while heading toward Constanța; Aslan Aliyev and Asim Gasimov were killed; and Imran Novruzov and Rauf Aliyev were hospitalized in Chornomorsk. 12313

What remains unresolved in the available public reporting is the exact strike-by-strike chronology, the status of every other crew member, and whether there was any factual basis for Russia’s implied military justification. Those gaps are central to understanding the incident—and to assessing the risks facing civilian seafarers in the Black Sea.