NATO will send additional maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems, and drones to the Black Sea following a series of deadly attacks on commercial shipping near Romania and Bulgaria.
The alliance announced the reinforcements after the North Atlantic Council met in Brussels to discuss regional security, Reuters reported.
Intelligence personnel and specialist teams will examine explosive remnants, with some deployments already underway and others planned, according to NATO military spokesperson US Army Col. Martin O’Donnell.
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said the measures build on earlier efforts to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank, including its defenses against drones.
Attacks on Shipping
The decision follows a series of attacks and suspected strikes on commercial vessels near Romania and Bulgaria earlier in October, raising concerns over civilian crew safety along a key Black Sea shipping route used by Ukraine.
Military analysts cited by Reuters have identified Russia as the likely perpetrator, while Moscow has not acknowledged responsibility.
On October 15, Romanian officials reported seven sailors missing after the San Marino-flagged chemical tanker Wine Trader caught fire near Sulina amid drone incursions in the region, the Kyiv Independent reported.
The incident followed a fire aboard the Comoros-flagged tanker Yara J the previous evening.
Its crew reported a drone strike and escaped unharmed, although Romania’s defense minister said investigators had yet to establish the cause.
A few days earlier, Bulgarian authorities reported drone strikes on two cargo ships off the country’s Black Sea coast.
Three drones hit the Maltese-flagged, Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3 off Byala on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, prompting the evacuation of all 15 crew members, five of whom received medical assistance.
Farther north, another vessel sank off Krapets, with five crew members rescued and 11 reported missing, according to the Kyiv Independent.
