“There have been collisions but I cannot recall once that a military ship has sunk afterwards,” Russia’s former navy chief of staff admiral Viktor Kravchenko told the Interfax news agency. All of the Russian sailors are safe.Turkey's state-run news agency says that the prime minister has called his Russian counterpart to express his "sadness" over the ship collision in the Black Sea.Anadolu Agency says that Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has spoken by phone with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev soon after the collision.Authorities say that all 78 personnel on the Russian vessel Liman are accounted for after it collided with the Togo-flagged freighter Youzarsif H.The freighter was carrying livestock and all of its crew is safe. ISTANBUL - A Russian naval spy ship on Thursday sank in the Black Sea off Turkey’s coast after hitting a Togo-flagged vessel packed with livestock but all of its 78 crew were rescued by Turkish coastguards. All 78 crew members on the Russian vessel were rescued.The crew of the freighter, a Togo-flagged ship travelling from Romania to Jordan and carrying 8800 sheep, was unharmed and the ship suffered slight damage to its bow, according to local media reports.In Moscow, Russia's Defence Ministry issued a statement confirming that the vessel, the Liman, went down after the collision tore a hole in the hull below the waterline.Russian officials did not immediately provide any information about the Liman's mission.
A Russian Navy spy ship sinks off the coast of Turkey after colliding with a Togo-flagged freighter. All 78 crew aboard the ship were safely evacuated, according to Turkish officials.