Geopolitical chess in the Black Sea: Why was the night attack in the Bulgarian economic zone a legally calculated trap?
This is what Mikhail Cohen commented on "Facebook".
In the early hours of October 6, 2026, the Black Sea became the scene of an unprecedented military incident. Two merchant ships – the Togolese-flagged “ALFA WATAN“ and the Palauan-flagged “ABLE“ – were hit by a coordinated night strike with air and sea drones. One of the vessels, carrying grain, sank in a flash in just three minutes, and the large-scale rescue operation brought the Bulgarian Navy and Border Police to their feet.
The method and, above all, the exact geographical location of the attack betray a cold-blooded legal calculation. The attack was carried out about 70 nautical miles east of the city of Byala - outside our territorial waters, but strictly within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Bulgaria.
This is not an error in the aggressor's navigation, but an extremely calculated move, supported by solid strategic arguments:
1. The perfect “legal gray spot“
According to the International Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the EEZ does not constitute sovereign state territory. In it, the coastal state has only economic rights (fishing, exploration and resource extraction). The attacker deliberately waited for the ships to cross our 12-mile border (our sovereign waters) to strike. Since the ships do not fly the Bulgarian flag and the incident is in international waters, from a strictly legal point of view this is not considered a military attack against the Republic of Bulgaria.
2. Complete neutralization of Article 5 of NATO
This is the most important argument in favor of tactical cunning. Since the airspace and waters in the EEZ retain the high seas regime for navigation, an attack on foreign merchant vessels there does not give NATO a legal basis for activating collective defense. The aggressor achieves maximum military escalation on the doorstep of a European state, but without the risk of an automatic and direct military response from the Alliance.
3. Military risk transferred entirely to the Bulgarian back
Although it was not an attack on land, Bulgaria is the country that bears the consequences. According to international regulations, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Varna was obliged to immediately send boats, helicopters and aircraft (Su-25) to rescue the crews in its area of responsibility. Our country was involved in the logistical management of the crisis, the Ministry of Economy urgently checked our waters for pollution, and the injured foreign sailors were evacuated to Bulgarian hospitals.
4. Economic terror without an officially declared war
With this incident, the Black Sea was immediately declared the area with the highest military risk by international insurers. The result? A drastic jump in shipping insurance prices and an increase in freight rates. This directly affects Bulgarian exports and imports, increases the cost of goods and blocks the key economic corridor, without the attacker having fired a single bullet towards the Bulgarian coast.
Ultimately, the incident near Byala is a perfect example of hybrid aggression - it has the power to terrorize the international grain trade and test the nerves and defense capabilities of NATO and Bulgaria, while simultaneously hiding behind the paragraphs of international conventions.