More than 600 incidents involving ships have happened in the Black Sea since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022, defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov told a parliamentary committee during a hearing.

The incidents are spread across the whole region, not just Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, the minister said.

He said such incidents will most likely keep happening, because no organisation can stop them – not in Bulgaria, not in Ukraine, and not in Russia, which started the war against Ukraine.

Prime minister Rumen Radev also reported new drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea earlier the same day.