Bulgaria's president blames Russia's war in Ukraine for worsening security environment in Black Sea

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s president said Wednesday that Russia’s war in Ukraine has led to “a significant deterioration” in security in the Black Sea region.

President Iliana Yotova spoke to reporters after an emergency meeting of the country’s Security Council following drone attacks on ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. While she didn't directly blame Russia for those strikes because there's an ongoing investigation by Bulgarian authorities, Yotova said that the war in Ukraine was undermining security for commercial vessels.

“Russia’s war against Ukraine has led to a significant deterioration of the security environment in the Black Sea region,” she said. “There is a growing trend of attacks by maritime and aerial drones against commercial vessels, leading to damage and the sinking of ships, as well as loss of life.”

Senior government and security officials discussed the Balkan country’s maritime security and critical infrastructure in the context of the war in Ukraine.

“The Security Council categorically condemns the attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea as a gross violation of international law and demands a fast check to identify the perpetrators,” Yotova said.

On Tuesday, two commercial vessels were struck by drones in the first attack on shipping in the NATO member’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea.

Sea and aerial drones attacked the two ships about 80 miles (128 kilometers) off Bulgaria’s coast.

The Togo-flagged ship Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage and sank at the scene. The second vessel, the Palau-flagged Able, caught fire after the attack. A Bulgarian ferry evacuated all 18 crew members.

Bulgarian maritime authorities said on Wednesday that the search efforts for the crew of Alfa Watan had been suspended and wouldn't resume.

Vice Admiral Rumen Nikolov, who led the rescue operation, said that no survivors or bodies had been found. He said that the drone strike had sparked an extremely powerful explosion, and the ship had sunk almost instantly.

Bulgarian authorities said that the origin of the drones was under investigation, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the drone strikes.

In a statement sent to local media on Wednesday, the Russian Embassy in Sofia rejected Russian involvement in the drone attacks on the two ships, saying “they were not among the targets hit by Russian armed forces.”

It quoted the Defense Ministry in Moscow as saying that “to determine the ‘nationality’ of the drones used to strike the ships, it is necessary to wait for the results of the investigation.”

Tuesday’s attacks came a day after a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying corn caught fire following a drone attack and later sank in the Black Sea. Two people died and 11 crew members were rescued.

While Bulgaria and Romania are still narrowing down the list of suspects, the European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that they had asked for satellite imagery following the attacks, and that the European Union, which has a center that analyzes data from space, is providing them.

Should the allegations made by Zelenskyy prove true, the attacks conducted on a NATO member’s territory would mark a new escalation in what European leaders and intelligence officials have said is a growing hybrid campaign by Russia aimed at testing the military alliance and the 27-nation EU.

Hybrid attacks can aim to destabilize a country, probe its defenses, strain resources, or influence public opinion — often in a way that makes it hard to identify those responsible.

An Associated Press interactive map tracking the incidents of hybrid attacks shows an escalation, from 59 in March 2025 to more than 200 at this point.

Lorne Cook contributed to this report from Brussels.