BRUSSELS - NATO said on Oct 20 it will deploy “additional assets” to the Black Sea after a string of drone strikes off Romania and Bulgaria in the latest spillover from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“NATO will be sending additional assets to the region, including support for surveillance, reconnaissance, and forensics,” NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart posted online, after a meeting of alliance ambassadors in Brussels.
“We will continue to stand united and ensure that we are ready and able to address any threat and to keep our one billion people safe,” she added.
The announcement from NATO came after Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that a US military plane had started to patrol the Black Sea following a plea for help after recent drone attacks.
“An American P-8 Poseidon... has begun patrolling the Black Sea to conduct reconnaissance missions and detect any activity that could pose a risk,” said Radev.
He said some NATO countries were quick to answer his call for help after the attacks and that Sofia expects “further assistance”.
The spate of strikes on ships in the waters off NATO and EU members Bulgaria and Romania have left more than a score of sailors missing and stirred condemnation in Europe.
A handout image from the Bulgarian Interior Ministry shows a vessel that was hit by a drone in the Black Sea.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Oct 20 said that “six attacks in 10 days by suspected Russian drones marks a dangerous and unacceptable escalation”.
Kallas accused the Kremlin of once again stepping up efforts to hit exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea in a bid to starve Kyiv of revenues.
She warned that the latest strikes were adding to a “perfect storm” facing global food supplies already being battered by droughts in multiple regions and the war in the Middle East.
The attacks have also compounded worries at NATO over what is seen as increasingly reckless actions by Moscow at a time when its forces are bogged down in Ukraine.
NATO and the EU are grappling with what they say is a “hybrid” campaign of sabotage and interference by the Kremlin aimed at undercutting Western support for Kyiv.
NATO has sought to signal to Russia to tamp down its actions after high-profile incidents over the summer, including the discovery of an explosive-laden drone at a German airport. AFP