Unidentified drones have attacked two ships off Bulgariaʼs Black Sea coast for the second time in recent weeks, sinking one. The countryʼs authorities believe Russia is involved, but there is currently no evidence.
This was reported by Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev.
The distress signal from the vessel, which was 33 kilometers east of the city of Byala, came at 01:30 local time on the night of October 13. The crew reported that they were attacked by three drones. Border police rescued 15 crew members of the “Chelsea 3” vessel. There were seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis among them. According to Radev, the ship flies under the flag of Malta and is registered in Odesa.
Five crew members suffered minor injuries. According to Maritime.bg, the cargo ship was en route from the Turkish Black Sea port of Giresun to Giurgiuleşti in Moldova.
Drones attacked another ship, which sank, but one person was rescued. The Bulgarian Prime Minister said he would summon the Russian ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova after the incident.
- On the morning of October 6, drones attacked two merchant ships — the Togolese-flagged “Alfa Watan” and the Palauan-flagged “Able” east of Cape St. Athanasius and the city of Byala. One ship sank, 18 sailors from the other were rescued. Two people were injured.
- Bulgarian authorities did not say whose drones they were. Russia has not yet commented on the incident. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the ships were attacked by Russian drones.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.