NATO may redeploy anti-drone defenses as attacks sink more Black Sea shipping
Suspected Russian drones have sunk or damaged 5 ships near Bulgaria and Romania.
Suspected Russian drones have sunk or damaged 5 ships near Bulgaria and Romania.
The short version
- Suspected Russian drone attacks sank a cargo ship and forced the evacuation of another vessel within two dozen miles of the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea on October 13.
- The latest attacks mean that five ships have been attacked in the exclusive economic zones of NATO member countries—spurring requests for NATO to redeploy counter-drone systems to provide more protection.
- Although there is no hard proof that the drone attacks originated from Russia, one of the ships that came under attack was the Ukrainian-operated coastal freighter Chelsea 3 , registered under the flag of Malta.
What happened
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told the Russian ambassador in Sofia that “it makes no sense for Ukraine to destroy its own ships in the Black Sea, and the results of these strikes favor Russia’s interests,” according to the Associated Press . All 15 members of the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3 were safely evacuated by Bulgarian rescue operations after the ship was reportedly struck by three aerial drones.
Why it matters
But authorities are still searching for 11 missing crew members of the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Dignity , which sank after coming under attack, the Associated Press reported.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.