Nato has been put on high alert after drone strikes hit two ships off the coast of Bulgaria, with search operations underway for crew members.
The Alfa Watan, a civilian cargo vessel, went down in the Black Sea within Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, after being targeted by both air and sea drones. Tracking data for the vessel became unavailable from around 12.43am BST.
The vessel had reportedly been bound for the Romanian port of Sulina, from Istanbul. Neither its cargo nor the number of crew aboard has been confirmed.
A Bulgarian ship that rushed to the scene found only an overturned boat, life rafts and floating life jackets.
A second vessel was struck in the same area, compounding what Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev described as "an unacceptable attack" and a "blatant violation of international law and maritime law".
He added: "If this war is not brought to an end in time, it will continue to expand its geographical scope and increase the risk of even a global conflict."
That second ship, the Able, was a Palau-flagged vessel laden with grain whose last known position - transmitted at around 1.13am BST - placed it less than five nautical miles from the stricken Alfa Watan.
Bulgarian sailors managed to pull all 18 crew members to safety. 11 were Turkish nationals, and seven were Indian citizens.
Two of those rescued had sustained injuries from a blaze that broke out on board following the strike.
The coordinated nature of the strikes, involving both aerial and maritime drones, has heightened alarm across the region's shipping lanes.
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President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, said the attacks were "increasingly concerning," adding: "Commercial ships - and innocent crews - are being targeted, with lives already lost at sea.
"Attacks on civilian shipping are unacceptable."
The strikes come amid a broader escalation of Russian military activity across the Black Sea, particularly along its eastern reaches, as part of Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine. Russia has offered no comment on the incident.
Just a day earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had accused Moscow of hitting a civilian vessel transporting corn.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, a Marshall Islands-flagged ship was attacked near Odesa, killing one crew member and wounding seven others, according to Ukrainian media reports.
Russia's defence ministry had announced on Sunday that it intended to step up strikes throughout Ukraine, framing the escalation as a response to Zelensky's pledge to intensify Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.
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