Drones strike two ships near Bulgaria in Black Sea

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev on Tuesday condemned drone attacks on two ships in the Black Sea off Bulgaria. In a post on X, Radev said drones struck a commercial vessel 18 nautical miles east of Byala, prompting emergency rescue operations. A second drone attack struck another commercial ship 17 nautical miles east of Krapets. It sank, and one crew member was rescued, according to Radev.

The ship off Byala, which Radev identified as the Chelsea 3, was sailing under the Maltese flag but was registered in Odesa and Ukrainian-owned, Radev said. He said the crew reported that three aerial drones struck the vessel on its deck and side. All 15 crew members, Ukrainian and Azerbaijani nationals, were safely transported to the port of Varna, and five received medical assistance, Radev said.

Who was responsible for the attacks? The prime minister said there was no definitive evidence indicating who was behind the attacks. But he said Russia stood most to benefit from the strikes, and it wasn’t logical for Ukraine to destroy its own ships. Radev held a meeting Tuesday with Bulgaria’s Cabinet and Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, regarding the drone attacks. According to a Bulgarian government report of the meeting, Mitrofanova said she did not have any information from Russia’s defense ministry related to the recent attacks.

Radev said Bulgaria had informed its representatives to NATO and the EU about the incidents. He called such attacks in the immediate vicinity of Bulgaria’s territorial waters unacceptable. Bulgaria’s territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles off its shoreline.

What effect do these attacks have on Bulgaria? According to the country’s government, attacks in the Black Sea have already led to increased risks for commercial shipping, increased insurance prices, and even refusals to transport cargo to Bulgarian ports. They have also threatened the supply of oil to the country’s Burgas refinery.