Romania Shoots Down Drones After Black Sea Attacks Hit Merchant Ships

The latest sequence began off Bulgaria on October 13, when drones struck two merchant ships and sank one. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev suspected Russia was responsible and summoned the Russian ambassador, BBC World reported.

Eleven sailors were reported missing. Rescuers evacuated all 15 crew members from the other ship, according to the South China Morning Post. The attacks followed an earlier round of strikes against merchant ships off Bulgaria within the previous week, Deutsche Welle reported.

On October 13, Radev called the attacks "absolutely unacceptable" and said Bulgaria was seeking NATO and European Union assistance, according to the Express & Star. The diplomatic response did not establish who had launched the drones.

By October 14, Bulgaria said Russia was likely behind attacks that had struck four ships over the preceding week, sinking two. But it also said there was no way to prove Moscow's culpability, Arab News reported. The Independent identified the ship sunk on October 13 as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship Dignity.

On October 15, two chemical tankers caught fire in Romanian territorial waters after Russian drones were sighted in Romanian airspace, according to Deutsche Welle. Romania's naval authority received an emergency alert from the San Marino-flagged tanker Wine Trader, The Independent reported.

Reports differed on the number missing after the Romanian incidents. ABC reported eight, while Deutsche Welle and The Independent reported seven. Romanian President Nicusor Dan said drones had struck both ships but declined to say whether they were Russian, according to Global News.

On October 17, Romanian Air Force F-16s shot down two drones over Romanian territorial waters, Deutsche Welle reported. Two fighters carrying out air policing missions were scrambled from the 86th air base at Borcea, according to a Defence Ministry release cited by Euronews.

Romania has identified the two intercepted drones as Geran models used by Russia in its war against Ukraine, according to Infobae. That identification concerns the October 17 interception; it does not establish responsibility for the earlier ship attacks.

The human toll remains unresolved. On October 16, The Hindu reported two people dead and at least 25 still missing across the attacks. That broader tally followed the separate reports of eleven missing off Bulgaria and seven or eight off Romania.

The immediate questions are whether rescuers locate the missing sailors and whether investigators establish who launched the attacks. Euronews reported that Romania was investigating a possible drone attack on a tanker, while ARD Tagesschau said the cause of the fire remained unclear in its October 15 coverage.

Bulgaria's request for NATO and EU assistance is another concrete issue to follow. Ars Technica reported that NATO might redeploy anti-drone defences, but the supplied coverage does not confirm a deployment.