What happened

Bulgarian authorities said aerial and maritime drones attacked the Togo-flagged general-cargo vessel ALFA WATAN, IMO 7510884, in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone at about 03:00. The ship suffered critical structural damage and sank roughly 70 nautical miles east of Byala. Bulgaria ended its search at 17:00 on 6 October after finding no trace of the vessel's 10 crew members. They remain missing; assessments that survival was unlikely do not constitute confirmation of death. The vessel's cargo was unknown, and authorities monitored for possible pollution without confirming a spill or other environmental release. Bulgaria did not attribute responsibility and said the drones' origin remained under investigation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had not operated in the area and attributed the combined maritime-and-aerial drone attack to Russia; that attribution was not independently confirmed in the reviewed reporting, and Russia had not responded. The marker is calculated from the published distance and direction and is not an impact coordinate.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.