Drones sink ships near NATO countries in “unacceptable” attacks, EU says

What happened

Two cargo ships have sunk, one ship was afire, and sailors are dead or missing. Drones sank two cargo ships and damaged a third in the exclusive economic zones of NATO member countries for the first time, killing at least two sailors.

The attacks represent a notable escalation as Black Sea commercial shipping has increasingly come under attack during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Russia also being accused of carrying out “hybrid warfare” incidents across Europe. The fate of the Alfa Watan’ s crew was not immediately known after the vessel sank.