Crew Missing After Drone Strike Sinks Ship Off Bulgaria

The crew of a merchant ship was missing on Tuesday after the vessel sank in the Black Sea off NATO member Bulgaria following a drone strike that Prime Minister Rumen Radev called a gross violation of international law. The attack, involving air and sea drones, occurred about 70 miles (112 km) off the coastal town of Byala in eastern Bulgaria, roughly 140 nautical miles from the Ukrainian coast. Two vessels were hit, according to Radev. The crew of one, carrying grain, was rescued, with two people injured. The other, a Togo-flagged ship whose cargo was not disclosed, sank, and the number of people aboard remains unclear. British maritime risk group Vanguard identified the vessels as the Togo-flagged ALFA WATAN and the Palau-flagged ABLE. A search has been launched for missing crew and possible environmental damage. Radev said it was unclear whether the drones originated from Russia or Ukraine, while Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha blamed Russia. Moscow has not commented. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the strike, saying commercial ships and crews are being targeted with lives already lost at sea. The incident follows a fire on a ship in the Black Sea outside Romania's territorial waters on Monday that killed two people, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attributed to Russian drones. Maritime security firm MARISKS said the attacks mark an escalation, with incidents expanding into the exclusive economic zones of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.