Drone Attacks Sink Ship Off Bulgarian Coast; PM Summons Russian Ambassador

Drone strikes hit merchant ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast on Tuesday, sinking one vessel and prompting Prime Minister Rumen Radev to summon Russia's ambassador.

• Drone strikes hit two ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast early Tuesday, sinking one, while a second vessel was damaged.
• The Ukrainian-owned, Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3 was hit by three drones 18 nautical miles offshore, and all 15 crew members were rescued.
• Radev summoned Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova, saying "the logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation," though no conclusive evidence implicates a party.
• The attack followed a similar drone strike a week earlier that sank the Alfa Watan, with 10 crew presumed dead.
• Egypt's Foreign Ministry announced it secured the safe exit of 15 Egyptian sailors stranded in Ukraine to neighboring Moldova, pending their return to Egypt.
• NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance is ready to adapt its defensive and deterrence measures following the drone attacks.
• The sunken vessel was the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity, from which several crew members are missing.
• The European Union voiced solidarity with Bulgaria following the drone attacks on the merchant ships.