A service provider ship has sunk after drones hit two vessels off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, Prime Minister Rumen Radev has said.
He indicated Russia was suspected of the attacks and that he had called in its ambassador.
One of the ships went down 17 nautical miles (31km) east of Krapets and one crew member was saved, he said. The other, Ukrainian-owned vessel was hit by three drones 18 nautical miles from the city of Byala and all 15 crew were rescued, he added.
The drone attacks come a week after two other business ships were hit by sea and aerial drones in Bulgaria’s unique financial zone. One of the ships, the Alfa Watan, sank and all 10 crew, including 9 Syrians, are presumed lifeless.
Radev convened an emergency assembly on Tuesday and said he had summoned Russian envoy Eleonora Mitrofanova. Although there was no conclusive evidence of blame on “either side… the logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation”, he said.
Bulgaria is a Nato member and the prime minister said he would communicate shortly to secretary common Mark Rutte. Radev had earlier requested Nato and the EU for technical help in investigating the 6 October attacks, indicating it was unclear whether Russia and Ukraine were behind them.
Radev came to workplace during the summer time and has since rejected solutions that he is “pro-Russian”.
Ukraine has instantly blamed Russia for the newest attacks and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on Tuesday of the Black Sea turning into “another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine. This is unacceptable”.
Russia’s navy has not publicly commented on the subject. It has just lately intensified its strikes on vessels in the Black Sea, significantly the western facet, as half of its battle against Ukraine.
The same day that two ships were focused off Bulgaria last week, Ukraine hit an oil tanker in the Russian Black Sea port of Sochi.
Moscow says it is concentrating on ships delivering weapons and dual-use cargo to Ukrainian ports – and cited attacks in the ports of Mykolaiv and Chornomorsk last week, along with one in the Black Sea.
However, Kyiv and its European allies say service provider vessels carrying grain and other civilian cargo are being attacked.
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