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 Togo-flagged cargo ship Alfa Watan sank, and the Palau-flagged cargo ship Able was set ablaze after being attacked by multiple sea and aerial drones about 80 miles off the coast of Bulgaria on October 6, according to the Associated Press. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev described the incidents as “an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone” and “a blatant violation of international law and maritime law.” The attacks represent a notable escalation as Black Sea commercial shipping has increasingly come under attack during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Drones struck the Turkish-owned cargo ship Royad Mammadov within Romania’s exclusive economic zone on October 5. That ship caught fire and eventually sank, with 11 crew members rescued while one remains missing. Two crew members were killed. European Union president Ursula von der Leyen described the drone strikes as “increasingly concerning” but cautioned that circumstances are “still being established.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described a joint investigation as finding that the latest strikes represented a “Russian combined attack using both sea and aerial drones.”
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing