At the moment, there is no information about whose drones attacked two merchant ships. This was stated by the Minister of Defense Dimitar Stoyanov in the program “Face to Face” on bTV, quoted by novini.bg
“We cannot confirm whether they are Russian or Ukrainian”, he added, confirming Prime Minister Rumen Radev's words from earlier today.
“To be sure, we need to find debris from the respective drones that will surface. The other option is for Russia or Ukraine to take responsibility. In this case, we do not have either option available. That is why we say that we cannot confirm whether the drones are Russian or Ukrainian”, explained the Minister of Defense.
He added that he was well aware of the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to whom the drones were Russian. “However, I cannot confirm this due to the lack of evidence”, Stoyanov specified.
“Our assessment is that the attack was probably carried out with unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned drones, these are precisely sea drones. These are the likely means of hitting both ships, but I cannot confirm their nationality and who used these drones”, the Minister of Defense repeated.
To a question related to suspicions that the government is deliberately hiding the origin of the drones, Stoyanov answered as follows: “Maybe some of our political opponents expect us to lie? Maybe they want to be told this? Last time we did not react in the same way when the drone fell near Kardam”, Stoyanov recalled the case of August 8, 2026.
“I saw what Ivaylo Mirchev said - how it was a Russian drone. The speculations regarding national security by the opposition leaders are too great. Maybe they are worried about the pre-election situation, maybe they are worried about the research of the sociological agencies that study the attitudes of the society”, he suggested.
And he emphasized: "Speculating on national security borders on stupidity".
"A leader of a political party cannot come out and comment on how we have not protected our territorial waters. Doesn't this person know that there is a Law on Maritime Space? Doesn't he know what an economic zone is, which is up to 200 miles? Our territorial waters are 12 miles. Then there is an adjacent zone, which is another 12 miles. That is, in total, approximately 24, and the economic zone is 200 miles. We have no commitment to cover up maritime communications in our economic zone. This shows one thing - that this person who is commenting on this matter most likely does not know the laws, and he himself is a lawmaker. Shameful thing”, commented the minister and emphasized that one cannot speak in this way to the Bulgarian society and make suggestions that are not based on reliable information and data.
“Does this person not know that our territorial zone is 12 miles. Is that where these ships were hit”, asked Stoyanov.
And he added: “I think this is subjective and above all: incompetent. One who studied “Marketing” and the other who studied “Finance” at “Harvard”, to talk to me about national security. Total incompetence”.
According to him, the attack on the ships cannot be considered as an accidental deviation of drones.
“It is absurd for drones to be misled. This is an attack that is unacceptable against commercial ships. We see that there are victims. A few years ago there was such an attack in the Romanian economic zone. This morning there was also a drone attack in the Turkish economic zone. There are people who died. That is why I say that this is not an accident. This is a targeted attack”, said Stoyanov.
According to him, what happened should also be considered in the broader context of the war in Ukraine. “We are part of the hybrid war - either on one side or the other. It was the same with the drone that fell near Kardam. It is the same with the drones that surface or fall in our maritime space. It is the same now with the strikes on ships“, commented the Minister of Defense.
He gave the example of Germany. “There were incidents there too. We saw incidents in Estonia, incidents with military plants and in other places. This is part of the war that is being fought near us. We should not be surprised by this. On the contrary, we know that this will happen.“
The Defense Minister said that one of the sailors, admitted to the Military Medical Academy in Varna, is in danger of dying. “The burns are over 40%, which is too much. I hope that my colleagues will be able to provide him with the necessary assistance“.