Key facts
- A merchant ship sank off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast after being struck by three drones.
- The vessel, Chelsea 3, was Ukrainian-owned and sailed under a Maltese flag.
- All 15 crew members were rescued, with five receiving medical assistance.
- Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev called the attacks 'absolutely unacceptable'.
- Radev suggested Russia was indirectly responsible for the attacks.
- The attacks occurred about 18 nautical miles east of Byala, Bulgaria.
A merchant ship sank off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast after being struck by three drones, Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced Tuesday. The incident occurred about 18 nautical miles east of the coastal town of Byala.
The Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3, registered in Ukraine's Odesa, was hit by the drones. All 15 crew members, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijani nationals, were evacuated, and five received medical assistance.
Radev called the attacks "absolutely unacceptable" and said he had summoned Russia's ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, for a meeting. While Bulgarian authorities have not established who was responsible, Radev argued that "the logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks, calling the Black Sea "another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine." Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry stated that Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian ports and civilian commercial vessels in the Black Sea.