Drones Hit Ships Off Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast, Prime Minister Says

Drones Hit Ships Off Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast, Prime Minister Says - The New York Times

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Europe|Drones Hit Ships Off Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast, Prime Minister Says

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/world/europe/bulgaria-drones-black-sea.html

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Drones Hit Ships Off Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast, Prime Minister Says

A rescue effort was underway, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, after one of the two ships sank. It was not immediately clear where the drones originated.

Listen · 4:01 min

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!Police officers around a man in a flotation collar, next to a ship.

*Crew members of a ship that was damaged in a drone attack disembarking from a Bulgarian border police vessel on Tuesday.Credit...Petko Momchilov/Reuters*

By Boryana Dzhambazova and Aurelien Breeden

Boryana Dzhambazova reported from Sofia, Bulgaria.

Oct. 6, 2026, 9:57 a.m. ET

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Rescue operations were underway off the coast of Bulgaria on Tuesday after drones hit two commercial ships off the country’s Black Sea coast, sinking one of the vessels and setting the other ablaze, according to the country’s prime minister.

The attack — the first of its kind on vessels in Bulgarian waters — occurred at around 3 a.m. local time, according to the Bulgarian prime minister, Rumen Radev. He said the ships had been struck by sea and aerial drones about 70 miles off the coast of Byala, eastern Bulgaria.

Mr. Radev told reporters that it was not immediately clear where the drones had originated, but added that he had no doubt they were “either Ukrainian or Russian.”

Russia and Ukraine have traded strikes on ports and vessels in the Black Sea, making the shipping route there increasingly precarious.

Speaking to reporters in Sofia, the capital, after an emergency cabinet meeting, Mr. Radev acknowledged that sailing in the Black Sea had become “increasingly difficult” and called the attack “absolutely unacceptable.”

“It’s a flagrant violation of international law and maritime laws in general,” he said.

A spokesman for NATO, of which Bulgaria is a member, declined to comment on Tuesday and referred questions to the Bulgarian authorities.

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