Ship sinks off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast after being hit by a drone

SOFIA - Two ships were hit by drones off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and one of them sank, in the second such incident in a week, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian-owned "Chelsea 3", sailing under Maltese flag, was hit by three drones and damaged some 18 nautical miles (33 km) off the Bulgaria coast around 1:30 a.m. (2230 GMT), Radev said. Its crew - seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis - had been rescued. Five crew members received medical assistance, but no one was seriously injured.

One crew member of the sunken ship had also been rescued, Radev said.

"This is absolutely unacceptable — another attack in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters," Radev said in a televised address.

"I am due to speak with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte."

Radev said there was no clear evidence who carried out the attack but "the outcome benefits the Russian Federation", adding that he would summon the Russian ambassador about the incident.

Bulgaria does not border either Ukraine or Russia, but as a NATO member it holds a strategic position on the Black Sea, where both countries have major ports. There are growing concerns about hybrid attacks involving drones by Russia as it wages war in Ukraine.

- Alex Lefkowitz and Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Tom Hogue and Lincoln Feast/Reuters