Ukraine War: Drone attacks on two ships in the Black Sea off Bulgaria

After a drone attack in the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria, a freighter sank and the crew is missing. In the incident on Tuesday, two ships were hit around 112 kilometers off the eastern coastal town of Byala, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said in a televised speech. He called an emergency meeting of his government.

According to him, the crew of one grain freighter was rescued, but the other ship, flying the Togo flag, sank. Radev condemned the attack as a gross violation of international law. It initially remained unclear who was responsible for the attack with air and sea drones off the coast of the NATO country. A Russian statement was initially not available.

Ukraine also reported that a freighter was hit by a Russian drone attack near the port city of Odessa. One person was killed and seven other people were injured, said the governor of the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Odessa. A fire broke out on board the ship flying the Marshall Islands flag.

Initial assessments from maritime security circles indicated a Russian attack. Radev did not directly comment on who was behind the attack, but pointed to Russia's war against Ukraine. "If this war is not stopped, it will expand geographically and increase the risk of a global conflict," he said. »We are experiencing an intensification of the war in which all rules of international law are being violated and civilian ships are being attacked at sea. This is absolutely unacceptable.”