Only Russian ships are currently able to sail through the Black Sea without risk

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev met with Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova, who continues to assert that the attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea cannot be attributed to Russia but may have been carried out by ‘a third party’. Radev told her that only Russia stands to gain from these attacks, that insurance premiums have skyrocketed, that some companies are already refusing to send their cargo ships to Bulgarian ports, and that the costs and risks seem increasingly unsustainable with each passing day.

In the hours leading up to this, two commercial vessels had been struck by drones in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, the fourth such incident in the past week. A cargo ship was travelling from Turkey to Moldova when it was struck by three drones; the crew were rescued by Bulgarian emergency services. A second vessel was struck and sank; so far, only one crew member has been recovered.

At present, the Black Sea is unsafe for everyone except the Russians: Moscow is targeting commercial vessels near NATO’s territorial waters, whilst its own cargo ships pass through NATO’s territorial waters without restriction. Russia’s shadow war against Europe is intensifying: the head of the British security service, MI5, Ken McCallum, said yesterday that Russia remains the number one hostile country, but by 2026, Iran – an ally of Russia – had also expanded its attack and sabotage operations in Europe.