Drones hit two ships off Bulgaria: one sinks, 11 sailors missing; Radev to summon Russian envoy
Place: Black Sea off BulgariaRegion: Moldova and Romaniaautomatic summary
Where the versions diverge
Russian agencies call the drones "unidentified" and do not mention the theory of Russian involvement; the Ukrainian side calls the attack Russian outright; Bulgaria says there is no evidence but the outcome benefits Russia. The name of the sunken ship differs: Azov Concord according to Bulgarian media cited by Reuters, HS Dignity according to President Iliana Iotova.
What Russia reports
automatic summary TASS, citing maritime.bg, writes that "unidentified drones" attacked the Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3 in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, injuring two sailors. RIA Novosti, citing Rapporteur, writes that Bulgaria and Romania are preparing a letter to NATO calling for more surveillance.
“Two sailors were injured as unidentified drones attacked the Maltese-flagged merchant vessel Chelsea 3”
- Merchant ship comes under drone attack in Black Sea off Bulgaria — news website — TASS (tass.com), 13 October, 07:49
- СМИ: Болгария и Румыния готовят письмо НАТО из-за атак дронов в Черном море — RIA Novosti, 13 October, 22:49
What Ukraine reports
automatic summary Ukrainska Pravda, citing Yevropeiska Pravda, writes that one of the ships sank and Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev intends to summon the Russian ambassador, although the drones' origin has not been established. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha calls the attack Russian and reports injured Ukrainian and Azerbaijani nationals.
“Уночі біля болгарського узбережжя два торгові судна зазнали атак дронів, одне з них затонуло”
- Болгарія викличе посолку РФ через атаки дронів на торгові судна, одне з яких затонуло — Ukrainska Pravda, 13 October, 08:58
- Біля Болгарії атакували два судна: МЗС України заявило про загрозу судноплавству — Suspilne, 13 October, 09:29
- Українці постраждали через російську атаку на судна біля Болгарії – Сибіга — Ukrainska Pravda, 13 October, 10:38
What independent sources report
automatic summary Al Jazeera and Kyiv Independent, citing Radev, write that Chelsea 3, owned by a Ukrainian company, was hit by three drones and all 15 crew were rescued; the second ship sank off Krapets, five were rescued and 11 are missing. Radev said there is no clear evidence, but "logic suggests" the outcome benefits Russia.
“while 11 crew members were still missing at sea”
“logic suggests the outcome works to the advantage of the Russian Federation”
- 'Absolutely unacceptable' — 11 crew members lost at sea after commercial ships hit by drones near Bulgaria's… — Kyiv Independent, 13 October, 10:22
- Bulgaria condemns Black Sea drone attacks, Russia suspected — DW, 13 October, 12:15
- Drone attack sinks ship off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, PM says — Al Jazeera, 13 October, 09:36
- Дроны вновь атаковали два судна у побережья Болгарии — DW (RU), 13 October, 11:41
Confirmation
Confirmation: the sides contradict each other
The groups of sources give incompatible information (the model, reading the texts, flagged incompatible statements of fact; differing figures are shown in the card). The site does not decide who is right.
Automatic summary, may contain errors. Short summaries are written by a language model with no human review; titles, summaries and the “Where the versions diverge” block in English are an automatic translation of the Russian originals. Quotes are verbatim (checked by code), in their original language, with a link. The “Where the versions diverge” block only records differences in wording and figures and does not say who is right. Publication times are shown in Europe/Berlin time. Report an error in this card