BRUSSELS: NATO said on Tuesday it was deploying additional planes, drones and radar systems to the Black Sea after a string of attacks on ships near Romania and Bulgaria in the latest spillover from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“Allies have or will send additional maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems, explosive exploitation teams, intelligence personnel, drones, and more to the Black Sea,” said Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.
“The most important thing we can do, however, is to increase our situational awareness in the region through increased sensors and data sharing,” he added.
The spate of strikes on civilian shipping in the waters off NATO and EU members Bulgaria and Romania have left a score of sailors missing or dead, and stirred condemnation in Europe.
NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart had earlier announced NATO would send “additional assets” after talks on Black Sea security by ambassadors from its 32 member countries at its headquarters in Brussels.
“NATO has already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank, including with counter-drone capabilities,” Hart wrote online.
“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.”
NATO, along with Bulgaria and Romania, have not officially blamed Moscow for the attacks, but the finger of blame has been pointed at Russia.
The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Tuesday 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.