Two ships were hit in the attack, including the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3, which was damaged. Published October 13, 2026 October 13, 2026 Two ships were hit in drone strikes off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, and one of them sank, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. The Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3, sailing under the Maltese flag, was hit by three drones and damaged about 18 nautical miles (33 km) off Bulgaria at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Radev said. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Radev said his crew of 15 men, seven of them Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were rescued. Five crew members received medical attention and no one was seriously injured. Bulgarian authorities said five crew members had been rescued from the sinking ship, but 11 remain missing at sea. The ship sank off the coast of the village of Krapets, near the border with Romania, and was identified as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged freighter HS Dignity by President Iliana Iotova. “Another attack in the vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters,” he said in a televised speech. Radev also said there was no clear evidence of who carried out the attack, but “the result benefits” Russia and that the Russian ambassador would be summoned over the incident. As a member of the NATO military alliance, Bulgaria has a strategic position in the Black Sea, where Russia and Ukraine play vital roles. ports.The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, condemned the attack on the ships. “The Black Sea has become another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine,” she said. “This is unacceptable. I strongly condemn the drone attacks on merchant ships near the Bulgarian coast. They seriously endanger the lives of the crew and threaten security in the Black Sea,” he wrote on “NATO will continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea. We have already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank and will continue to monitor the security environment, adjusting our deterrence and defense posture as necessary,” Rutte said on X after speaking with Radev. one to sink. All 10 crew members of the ship that sank are still missing.
