Black Sea: Bulgaria calls drone attacks “absolutely unacceptable”

Footage from the Bulgarian Navy last night shows a ship in distress. There is a huge hole at the rear. The sea is stormy. Later, in the harbor of the Bulgarian coastal city of Varna, journalists crowd around a sailor. “A drone attacked three times, a Russian drone,” the man says. He is one of the survivors of a new attack on two ships off the Bulgarian coast.

One of them is the Chelsea 3. It sails under the Maltese flag but is owned by Ukrainians. The entire crew of the Chelsea 3 was rescued - 15 sailors. This is how Jubomir Nikolov, Secretary General of the Interior Ministry, described it this morning. "In extremely rough seas and risking their own lives, Border Police officers immediately arrived at the location of the ship, which had most likely been hit by three drones, and rescued 15 sailors," Nikolov explained.

No direct accusation of Russia

However, a second attacked ship sank. Eleven crew members are still missing, five were rescued. It has not yet been proven whether it was actually Russian drones that attacked. Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rumen Radev did not directly blame Russia: "We have no clear evidence to blame any party. However, the logic suggests that the result benefits the Russian Federation."

Radev therefore summoned the Russian ambassador. He emphasized that the attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea represented a significant escalation. Two ships were attacked off the Bulgarian coast last week. One also sank with its crew. “This is absolutely unacceptable, another attack in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters.” The Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to NATO and the Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the European Union had been informed. Radew continued that he would speak to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte shortly.

Attack on Europe's "economy and societies"

Moritz Brake, an expert in maritime security, sees the attacks of the last few weeks as a very real threat to Europe's security.

An uncertain supply across the Black Sea could quickly become a crisis, especially for the neighboring European states of Romania and Bulgaria. Oil and gas are also transported via this sea route. Although the quantities are rather small, they could quickly become critically relevant for Romania and Bulgaria, according to the security expert.