A commercial ship sank and its crew vanished Tuesday after an apparent coordinated air-and-sea drone attack off NATO member Bulgaria, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia before warning Moscow was preparing a broader "massive strike." A second vessel was also heavily damaged and set ablaze inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, with a drone expert warning the dual precision strikes signaled a dangerous escalation and possible "larger invasion posture" by Russia. "They were likely using the Geran-4 aerial drone to take the vessel out or the Maran surface vehicle to take it out," Cameron Chell, founder of drone manufacturer Draganfly, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday of the first strike. RUSSIA MAY BE USING HIDDEN 'LUNCHBOX-SIZE' DRONE DEVICES TO COUNTER UKRAINE DEFENSES: EXPERT "The reason it wasn't just an air vehicle or an air drone that took this ship out was that the Gerans generally come in at a pretty steep angle when they're on final attack," Chell said.
"There are not really any precision drones that fly closely above the surface, which is where they would have had to hit in order to create an impact that would sink this ship fast enough," he added. "The nature of this strike suggests there was a combination of an air attack and surface attack," Chell said. The dual attack occurred roughly 70 nautical miles off the eastern Bulgarian coastal town of Byala, according to , bringing the conflict into the economic zone of a NATO member.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence and security services were working to determine the full circumstances surrounding the attack. US ALLIES NEED TO SHOOT DOWN RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT TESTING NATO BOUNDARIES, CZECH PRESIDENT WARNS "Our intelligence and special services are now working to establish all available information about yet another attack in the Black Sea targeting civilian vessels," he wrote on X. "Our Navy contacted its counterparts in Bulgaria, and it has been established that this was a combined Russian attack using maritime and aerial drones." Chell suggested the attack’s location and hybrid nature could serve Russia by sowing greater uncertainty across the region.
"We can see the amount of geopolitical chaos that's involved, and this is exactly the type of thing that would benefit Russia in the region," Chell said. "The hybrid element here is really blurring the lines between traditional military actions," he added, describing the attack as "an expansion of strategy and tactics." "This is indicative of this larger invasion posture that seems to be unfolding for Russia," Chell said. "And a real desire, what appears to be, for Russia to take things up a notch." RUSSIA'S SHADOW WAR IS PUTTING EUROPE ON EDGE AS GERMANY CONFRONTS A GROWING THREAT Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev also confirmed that aerial and maritime drones targeted two commercial vessels in shipping lanes inside Bulgaria’s EEZ, calling the attack a "gross, flagrant violation of international law," according to .
The sunken vessel, identified by British maritime risk group Vanguard as the cargo ship Alfa Watan, suffered catastrophic structural damage before submerging with an undisclosed cargo and an unknown number of crew members aboard. A nearby Bulgarian ferry, the Dioscuria, diverted to the scene after witnessing an explosion and receiving distress signals, reported. Rescuers found an overturned lifeboat, life rafts and life jackets floating in the debris field.
RUSSIA PREPARING HYBRID ATTACKS ON NATO'S EASTERN FLANK, INTELLIGENCE WARNS Search-and-rescue operations involving the Bulgarian Navy, Air Force and Border Police remained underway to locate the missing crew and monitor for environmental threats, the outlet said. Chell suggested the apparent coordination between the attacks was particularly significant. "Not only are you using pretty sophisticated equipment, but you're also doing it in a coordinated manner," Chell said.
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