Drones sink ships near NATO countries in “unacceptable” attacks, EU says
Two cargo ships have sunk, one ship was afire, and sailors are dead or missing.
Two cargo ships have sunk, one ship was afire, and sailors are dead or missing.
The short version
- Drones sank two cargo ships and damaged a third in the exclusive economic zones of NATO member countries for the first time, killing at least two sailors.
- The attacks represent a notable escalation as Black Sea commercial shipping has increasingly come under attack during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Russia also being accused of carrying out “hybrid warfare” incidents across Europe.
- A Bulgarian ferry managed to evacuate the 18 crew members of the Able , with two severely injured mariners being flown to a hospital in the city of Varna.
What happened
This comes one day after drones struck the Turkish-owned cargo ship named Royad Mammadov within Romania’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea on October 5. That ship caught fire and eventually sank, with 11 crew members rescued by Romanian ships and helicopters while one crew member remains missing, according to Euronews .
Why it matters
European Union president Ursula von der Leyen described the drone strikes on the three vessels in the Black Sea as “increasingly concerning” in a post on X .
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.