Bulgaria says Russia was likely behind Black Sea strikes as search for crew continues

The Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Dignity sank on Tuesday after it was hit by a military strike

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Bulgaria said on Wednesday that Russia was likely behind drone attacks that hit four vessels in the Black Sea over the past week, though it noted there was no way of proving Moscow's culpability.

One of the ships is registered to Guinea-Bissau, while the other – the Chelsea-3 – is Ukrainian-owned, registered in Odesa and sails under the flag of Malta, a European Union member.

“There is no logic in Ukraine attacking its own ships and crews, given that the outcome of all these attacks favours Russia — and indeed, the logic points in that direction. The problem is that we cannot prove it,” Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev told Parliament.

The Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Dignity sank on Tuesday after it was hit by a military strike.

Four sailors, three Syrian nationals and one Egyptian, were rescued and arrived in the port of Varna, district Gov. Mario Smarkov said.

President Iliana Yotova called for an immediate halt to hostilities in the Black Sea and a moratorium on drone attacks against commercial and civilian infrastructure, following the latest drone attacks.

“The unprecedented attacks demonstrate that the war has reached the Black Sea and that the conflict is intensifying,” Yotova said in an TV interview on Tuesday.

She explained that coordinated steps have been taken with her colleagues from Romania and Turkey in the wake of the growing risks and dangers in the Black Sea basin.