Zelenskyy: Defense Forces did not conduct operations in the area of the attack on ships near Bulgaria
7.10.2026 - 09:30
The President of Ukraine said that two civilian vessels in the Black Sea near Bulgaria were attacked by Russia using sea and air drones.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an evening address on October 6.
According to him, the Ukrainian Navy contacted Bulgarian colleagues to clarify the circumstances of the incident.
“It has been established that this was a Russian combined attack using sea and air drones,” the president said.
Zelensky also stressed that the Ukrainian Defense Forces did not conduct operations in this area of the Black Sea.
During the attack, one of the two civilian vessels sank, the other received significant damage. According to preliminary data from the Bulgarian media, these are the dry cargo ships ALFA WATAN under the Togolese flag and ABLE under the Palau flag.
At the same time, Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said that Sofia cannot currently establish the origin of the drones.
“We cannot confirm whether the drones that hit two ships in the Black Sea were Ukrainian or Russian,” Stoyanov said on bTV, BGNES reports.
According to him, to establish the origin of the devices, “it is necessary to find their wreckage” or “obtain confirmation of responsibility” from one of the parties.
