Russia Behind Drone Strikes on Ships Off Bulgaria, Zelensky Says, as Radev Rules Out Invoking NATO Articles
Two civilian ships were hit by drones in Bulgaria’s Black Sea economic zone overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Citing contacts with Bulgaria’s navy, he pinned the blame for the strikes on Russia, while Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the drones’ origin was still unclear and ruled out invoking NATO’s Articles 4 and 5.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine stated on Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the drone strikes on two Bulgarian civilian ships in the Black Sea, denying any Ukrainian involvement. The Ukrainian Defense Forces had not conducted any operations in the area. Zelensky emphasized that the strikes were part of Russia's ongoing attempt to make the western Black Sea unsuitable for navigation, and ordered Ukrainian military and intelligence agencies to cooperate closely with allies to defend against such attacks.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that the ships were hit by both a maritime and aerial drone, and that the incident was extremely worrying. He clarified that the sinking ship was the one carrying wheat, while the other ship heading north had its crew evacuated by the Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria. Despite the attack occurring within NATO's exclusive economic zone, it did not constitute grounds for invoking NATO's Article 4 or 5 articles.
Radev warned of a broader pattern of ships being sunk in the Black Sea, stating that the situation was serious as a trend if the war was not stopped in time. The ships involved were identified as the Able and the Alfa Watan, with the latter catching fire and sinking 70 nautical miles off the Bulgarian coast.
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