Overview
- A Turkish‑owned grain ship identified as the Royad Mammadov burned and sank in Romania’s exclusive economic zone after a drone strike that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said involved two drones, leaving two crew dead and 11 rescued.
- Bulgarian authorities reported that two more merchant ships were struck in Bulgaria’s EEZ the following day, with one vessel sinking and its crew missing and another carrying wheat evacuated with two injured sailors.
- Ukrainian and regional leaders blamed Russia for the strikes, while Moscow has previously claimed attacks on some cargo ships it said carried military gear and had not publicly acknowledged the Royad Mammadov attack in initial reports.
- Romanian and Bulgarian coast guards and aviation units mounted complex search‑and‑rescue operations, evacuating injured by helicopter and recovering survivors from lifeboats and nearby vessels.
- The incidents increase risks to Black Sea navigation and Ukrainian grain flows, push up insurance and shipping costs, and have prompted new Ukrainian defensive measures such as bridge nets and AI‑guided interceptors for drone threats.