A victory for acting president Iliana Iotova would make her Bulgaria's first elected female president. (EPA Images pic)SOFIA: Bulgarians vote in presidential elections on Sunday as Russia's war in Ukraine spreads to the waters off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.

Polls place acting president Iliana Iotova, 61, and former caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov, 50, as leaders in a race of 27 candidates.

While the presidency is largely ceremonial, Sunday's vote has taken on added significance after a series of drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast that likely killed some two-dozen international seafarers.

The strikes, which sparked international condemnation and concerns about the growing reach of the war in Ukraine, prompted the government to seek allied assistance to bolster maritime security.