Bulgaria Summons Russian Ambassador After Drones Sink Cargo Ship off Black Sea Coast

Drones struck two cargo ships early on October 13 in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone, sinking one and leaving 11 crew members missing. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned the Russian ambassador and stated that the outcome of the attacks benefited the Russian Federation.

The Malta-flagged Chelsea-3, owned in Ukraine and registered in Odesa, was hit by three aerial drones about 18 nautical miles east of the town of Byala around 1:15 a.m. All 15 crew members, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were rescued by Bulgarian border police and taken to Varna. Five received treatment for minor injuries. The vessel had been sailing from the Turkish port of Giresun toward Giurgiulești in Moldova.

The second ship, the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity, was struck near the same time roughly 17 nautical miles east of the village of Krapets, close to the Romanian border. It sank. Five crew members were rescued by nearby merchant vessels. Eleven remain missing. President Iliana Iotova identified the ship and said it was en route from Mostaganem in Algeria to the Romanian port of Braila with a crew that included Syrian and Egyptian nationals. Both vessels were traveling without cargo.

This is the second set of drone strikes on commercial shipping in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in a week. On October 6 the cargo ship Alfa Watan sank after a similar attack, with all 10 crew members listed as missing, while another vessel was damaged. Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said it would be illogical for Ukraine to strike its own ships and that authorities assumed the drones were Russian. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also blamed Russia.

Radev called an emergency Security Council meeting. He described the attacks as absolutely unacceptable and said Bulgaria was seeking assistance from NATO and the European Union. Defence Minister Stoyanov spoke with his counterparts in Romania and Turkey about regional security. President Iotova said Bulgaria would raise the matter at the United Nations Security Council. The Russian ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, was summoned to the foreign ministry.

The strikes occurred outside Bulgarian territorial waters but inside the exclusive economic zone. Search and rescue operations continued through the day, supported by merchant vessels already in the area. Four of the five survivors from HS Dignity had reached Varna by Tuesday evening, according to regional authorities. Bulgarian border police vessels conducted the evacuations.

Commercial shipping in the Black Sea has faced repeated risks since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Attacks on grain and other cargo vessels have disrupted routes that previously carried Ukrainian and regional exports. Bulgaria, a NATO and EU member, has not been a direct combatant, yet its coastal waters have now seen multiple incidents in a short period. The latest events raise the prospect of further insurance premium increases and route diversions for ships transiting the western Black Sea.

No group has claimed responsibility. Bulgarian officials have not presented forensic evidence identifying the origin of the drones. Radev noted the absence of conclusive proof pointing to either side while emphasizing the practical benefit to Russia. The incidents add to a series of hybrid and conventional attacks that have drawn Black Sea littoral states more tightly into the security calculations of the Ukraine war.