Black Sea Drone Attacks Expose Holes in Bulgarian Security Strategy

For Bulgarians, the war in Ukraine this month came closer to home than ever before.

Two drone attacks on commercial ships in the country’s Black Sea zone, on October 6 and October 13, raised difficult questions about Bulgaria’s preparedness for further escalation, and its government’s tendency to avoid direct criticism of Russia.

Each attack sank a ship and damaged another. The exact death toll has yet to be confirmed.

“We don’t have solid evidence to blame either side but logic suggests the strikes have been of benefit to the Russian Federation,” Prime Minister Rumen Radev, himself a former air force commander, said in the wake of the second attack.

He summoned Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova, who claimed that “a third side” may have been responsible.

Whatever the truth, former deputy defence minister Velizar Shalamanov says Bulgaria’s inaction is dangerous.