Romania blames Russia after drone strike sinks cargo ship in Black Sea

Romanian President Nicusor Dan has accused Russia of escalating attacks on NATO’s eastern flank after a drone strike sank a cargo ship off Romania’s Black Sea coast on Friday, killing at least one sailor with three still missing, Reuters reported (source).

The Comoros-flagged tanker Khoryv, carrying 13 Ukrainian and Azerbaijani sailors, sent a distress signal 13 nautical miles off Constanta, just beyond Romanian territorial waters, the naval authority said. Nine sailors were rescued, three were missing and one body recovered. The Interior Ministry said a nearby commercial vessel recovered ten people — nine alive, one deceased — and that bad weather prevented a helicopter deployment (AP via ETV Bharat).

Video released by Romanian authorities showed only a small part of the capsized hull still visible above the waves as it sank, with emergency vessels searching choppy seas in high wind.

“It is part of Russia’s escalation process in its war in Ukraine,” Dan told reporters, later saying the ship had been hit by a drone — Bucharest’s accusation, with Russian involvement not independently established.

The past two weeks have seen at least seven cargo ships hit off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, with some 30 sailors reported dead or missing. The struck vessels were anchored near or headed towards the Sulina Canal, which links the Danube to the Black Sea and has become Ukraine’s primary export route. NATO said on Tuesday it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the region.