Eleven sailors missing after drones sink a cargo ship off Bulgaria

The Black Sea war reached the edge of a NATO member's waters again overnight, and a merchant crew is missing.

Bulgarian officials said two cargo ships were hit by drones overnight. One sank off the coast near the village of Krapets, close to the Romanian border: five of its crew were rescued and 11 were still missing as of Tuesday, with searches continuing. Reports differ on the sunken ship's name: Bulgarian media identified it as the Azov Concord, while other reports named the HS Dignity, sailing toward the Romanian port of Braila with a partial cargo. The second ship, the Malta flagged Chelsea 3, was hit by three drones. All 15 of its crew, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were rescued and none was seriously injured.

Bulgaria summoned Russia's ambassador. Prime Minister Rumen Radev called the attack absolutely unacceptable, said it happened in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters, and said its outcome benefits the Russian Federation. Sofia stopped short of formally accusing Moscow of carrying out the strikes, and Moscow had issued no comment as of Tuesday.

Ukraine and the European Union condemned the attacks in terms that did assign blame. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Black Sea has become another front of escalation in Russia's war and that those responsible should be held accountable. Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha called the strike a deliberate disregard for civilian lives and said Russia is attacking the sea lanes that carry the world's food.

It is the second deadly sinking of a cargo vessel in the area in a week. Merchant shipping in the Black Sea now sails within drone range of a war neither side shows signs of ending, and the grain and fuel that move on those routes are priced accordingly.