At least 23 sailors have been reported missing or dead in the Black Sea in recent days.

Omissions

• No primary official source (Romanian or Bulgarian authorities, IMO, NATO) publishing an aggregated casualty toll was found; the figure of 23 comes from news agency reporting (Reuters/AP) citing officials, corroborated by other outlets.
• The count is cumulative over roughly the previous 10 days (attacks near Bulgaria and Romania), not the result of a single incident; the same reporting notes seven sailors were missing after the 15 October drone strikes on two chemical tankers.
• The figure was accurate as of 15 October 2026; further attacks occurred after that date (e.g. the 23 October sinking of the Khoryv, with 1 dead and 3 missing), but those events post-date the session and could not have been known to the speaker.

Sources

• SecondaryReutersReporting on drone strikes on two ships near Romania: '... Bulgaria over the past 10 days, with at least 23 sailors reported missing or dead. Those attacks occurred outside NATO territorial waters ...'
• SecondaryThe Guardian'At least 23 sailors have been reported missing or killed after attacks on commercial shipping near the coasts of Bulgaria and Romania in the ...'
• SecondaryEuropaportalen'Minst fem fartyg har träffats utanför Rumäniens och Bulgariens kuster de senaste två veckorna, och 23 sjömän rapporteras döda eller saknade.' (At least five vessels have been hit off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, and 23 sailors are reported dead or missing.)