SOFIA, Bulgaria — Drones struck two merchant ships just outside Bulgaria’s territorial waters in the Black Sea early Tuesday, sinking one and leaving 11 of its crew missing, and Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned Russia’s ambassador over the attacks, BBC News, Al Jazeera and CBC News reported.
The Maltese-flagged, Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3 was hit by three aerial drones about 18 nautical miles off the Bulgarian coast at around 1:30 a.m. local time, Radev said. All 15 of its crew, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were rescued, and five were treated for minor injuries. The second vessel sank about 17 nautical miles east of the village of Krapets. One sailor from that ship was saved, the BBC said, and Bulgarian media identified it as the cargo ship Azov Concord, according to CBC.
“Another attack on merchant ships in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters is absolutely unacceptable,” Radev said after an emergency meeting of the country’s Security Council. He said there was no conclusive evidence of who was responsible, but that “logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation.” Russia’s ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, was later quoted by Bulgarian media as saying she had no information from Russia’s defence ministry about the attacks and that they could have been a provocation by a third party, the BBC reported.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the strikes. “The Black Sea has become another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine. This is unacceptable,” she wrote on X.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who spoke with Radev, said the alliance had “already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank and will continue to monitor the security environment, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha blamed Moscow directly. “The Black Sea is a lifeline for global food security. Russia is attacking it to weaponise hunger and hold the world hostage,” he said. Russia’s military had not commented.
The attacks came exactly a week after drones hit two other ships in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone on Oct. 6. One of them, the Alfa Watan, sank, and all 10 of its crew are presumed dead, the BBC said. DW reported that at least 45 merchant vessels have been struck by drones in the Black Sea in the past 12 months. Had Tuesday’s strikes happened a few nautical miles farther west, inside Bulgarian waters, NATO’s Article 5 collective-defense clause could have come into play, the BBC noted.
Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera, CBC News, DW
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