Bulgaria ends search for 12 Syrian sailors after drone destroys merchant vessel in Black Sea
A merchant ship carrying Syrian crew members sank after being struck by a drone in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone. Bulgarian authorities called off the search for twelve missing sailors on Wednesday, though they recovered life rafts and ship debris. While the attacker remains unidentified, Prime Minister Rumen Radev suggested Russia was responsible based on the ship's cargo and direction, a claim the Russian embassy in Sofia denied.
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Bulgaria has ended its search for twelve Syrian crew members missing after their merchant ship was struck by a drone and sank approximately 70 nautical miles off the Bulgarian coast. The announcement came on Wednesday from Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov of the Maritime Administration Executive Agency. A second vessel was damaged in the same attack, but its crew survived and were rescued successfully.
Rescue teams recovered a boat, three life rafts and fragments of ship equipment, but found no sign of the missing sailors and no remains of the drone. Nikolov told reporters that there would be no trace of the sailors and that the rescue operation would not continue.
The identity of those responsible for the attack has not been confirmed. Following a National Security Council meeting, Prime Minister Rumen Radev told reporters that the type of cargo and the direction of travel suggested Russian involvement, although he stressed this was not definitive proof. The Russian embassy in Sofia responded by email to Reuters, denying involvement and stating that the merchant ship was not among the targets struck by Russian drones that day.
The incident has increased concerns about hybrid attacks connected to Russia's war in Ukraine spreading across the wider Black Sea region, where both Ukrainian and Russian-linked shipping regularly operates.
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