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Eleven sailors were missing at sea on Tuesday from \u200ba ship sunk by a drone attack off the coast of Bulgaria, possibly the second deadly sinking of a \u200ccargo vessel in the area in a week, prompting Bulgaria to summon Russia\u2019s ambassador.<\/strong><\/p>\n Two cargo ships were hit by drones overnight and one was sunk, Bulgarian officials said. Bulgaria stopped short of explicitly accusing Russia of carrying out the attacks but Prime Minister Rumen Radev said their outcome \u201cbenefits the Russian Federation\u201d.<\/p>\n There was no immediate \u200bcomment from Moscow on the incidents.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is absolutely unacceptable \u2014 another attack in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters,\u201d Radev \u200bsaid in a televised address.<\/p>\n The attacks were also condemned by Ukraine and the EU.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Black Sea has become \u2060another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine,\u201d European Commission<\/p>\n President Ursula von der Leyen said on X. \u201cThose responsible should be \u200bheld accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X on Tuesday that the strike \u201conce again demonstrates Moscow\u2019s deliberate disregard for civilian lives\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Black Sea \u200bis a lifeline for global food security. Russia is attacking it to weaponise hunger and hold the world hostage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Speaking with von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte by telephone on Tuesday, Radev urged their support to bolster his country\u2019s maritime and airspace surveillance, the Bulgarian government said in a statement.<\/p>\n NATO \u200bwill continue to adjust its military presence on its eastern flank \u201cas needed\u201d, Rutte said.<\/p>\n Bulgarian officials said five crew \u200bmembers had been rescued but 11 were still listed as missing from the ship which sank off the coast of the village of Krapets. President Iliana \u200cIotova identified \u2060the vessel as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship HS Dignity and said a search and rescue operation was ongoing.<\/p>\n Another ship, the Chelsea 3 sailing under a Maltese flag, was also hit by three drones overnight, Bulgarian officials said. All crew from that ship \u2014 seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis \u2014 were rescued and none seriously injured.<\/p>\n A week ago nine Syrian sailors and one Egyptian were lost at sea from a ship that sank when hit \u200bby drones in Bulgaria\u2019s Black Sea \u200bexclusive economic zone. Another ship \u2060was also hit that night but the crew was rescued.<\/p>\n After meeting Radev in Sofia, Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova said she had no information from the Russian Defence Ministry about attacks on commercial vessels in the \u200bBlack Sea but did not rule out they could be a provocation by a third party, the \u200bBulgarian government said.<\/p>\n More \u2060than four and a half years into the war that Moscow launched with its full-scale invasion in 2022, Black Sea shipping has increasingly been drawn into a prolonged battle of economic endurance.<\/p>\n Ukraine and Russia are both among the world\u2019s largest exporters of grain.<\/p>\n Russia has been bombing Ukraine\u2019s Black Sea \u2060ports, forcing \u200bUkraine to rely increasingly on river ports on the Danube and shipping routes close \u200bto the coasts of NATO members Bulgaria and Romania.<\/p>\n Ukraine, for its part, has increasingly targeted Russian grain-exporting ships in other parts of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea \u200bat the mouth of the Don River.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBLACK SEA SHIPPING DRAWN INTO WAR<\/strong><\/h3>\n