‍A Russian military ship sank Thursday after crashing with a ship carrying livestock on the Black Sea near Istanbul, a Turkish coastal safety official said, adding that all 78 personnel on board had been evacuated.

"At the moment, all Russian sailors, 78 people, whose research ship collided with a cargo vessel in the Black Sea, have been rescued. No one is dead or missing," the official told the Russian news agency TASS.

The information was confirmed by Russian authorities. Earlier, media reports had said that 45 Russian soldiers were rescued, while another 15 were missing.

Russia’s defense ministry said that the research ship Liman sank after colliding with the ship Ashot-7, about 40 kilometers northwest of the Bosporus Strait.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim expressed his sadness over the collision during a call with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.