Russia attacked two merchant vessels with drones off Bulgaria’s coast, - Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s Defense Forces did not conduct any operations in the area of the Black Sea near Bulgaria, where the civilian vessels Alfa Watan and Able were attacked today, October 6.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported this in his evening address, according to Censor.NET.
Russia is responsible
According to the president, Ukrainian intelligence and security services are gathering all available information about the incident.
"Ukraine’s Defense Forces did not conduct any operations in this area of the sea. This latest tragedy involving civilian vessels continues Russia’s efforts to make the western part of the Black Sea completely unfit for navigation," he said.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Navy has already contacted its Bulgarian counterparts and established that this was a combined Russian attack using maritime and aerial drones.
"I have instructed our Armed Forces, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, our intelligence and all our services to cooperate as fully as possible with our partners so that both they and we have greater capabilities to defend ourselves," the head of state added.
What preceded this?
- On October 6, drones attacked two merchant vessels off Bulgaria’s coast.
- According to the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities, drones attacked the vessels in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea — the Togo-flagged general cargo vessel ALFA WATAN and the Palau-flagged general cargo vessel ABLE.
- ALFA WATAN sank. Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that two crew members had died and 11 had been rescued. All 18 crew members aboard the other vessel were rescued by a passenger ferry.
