SOFIA, Bulgaria (Diya TV) — Rescue teams searched Tuesday for eleven sailors missing after a drone attack sank a cargo ship off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. A second vessel sustained damage, prompting Prime Minister Rumen Radev to summon Russia’s ambassador.
Authorities rescued five crew members from the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity, which sank near Krapets, close to the Romanian border. President Iliana Iotova identified the vessel and confirmed that search operations continued.
Three drones also struck the Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3. Rescuers evacuated all fifteen crew members, including seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis. Officials reported no serious injuries.
Radev condemned the attacks but said Bulgaria lacked clear evidence to attribute them to a specific party. He argued that their outcome benefited Russia.
Both incidents occurred outside Bulgarian territorial waters. The HS Dignity was sailing toward the Romanian port of Braila.
Radev requested support for stronger maritime and airspace surveillance during telephone calls with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Rutte said NATO would continue monitoring conditions and adjusting its defenses as necessary. Von der Leyen condemned the attacks and called for accountability. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha blamed Moscow, citing threats to civilian shipping and global food security.
Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova said she had received no information from Russia’s Defense Ministry about attacks on commercial vessels, the Bulgarian government reported. She suggested a third-party provocation was possible, without providing supporting evidence.
The attacks followed similar strikes off Bulgaria a week earlier. Nine Syrian sailors and one Egyptian remained missing after one vessel sank; rescuers evacuated the crew of another damaged ship.
Bulgarian authorities had not established responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks as the search for the missing sailors continued.
