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WorldEurope

Romania blames Russia after four merchant ships are attacked in the Black Sea

Foreign Minister Oana Toiu called the strikes "callous and murderous" as drones also crossed into Romanian airspace and fighter jets were scrambled.

From the editorial desk · BucharestPublished
The port of Constanța, Romania
The port of Constanța, RomaniaMass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Chris Roys / Wikimedia

Key points

  1. Romania said four merchant vessels were attacked in 24 hours, some in its own waters.
  2. Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said Russia "bears full responsibility".
  3. Romania scrambled jets after three drones entered its airspace in a day.

Romania’s foreign minister on Thursday blamed Russia for a wave of attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea, after four vessels were struck in the space of 24 hours, some of them inside Romania’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

“Russia bears full responsibility for these developments,” Oana Toiu wrote on X. “These are callous and murderous attacks against civilians.”

Crew members were reported missing after a fire broke out on a San Marino-flagged tanker off the Romanian coast. Toiu said the attacks had cost eight lives; other accounts put the number of missing crew at seven or eight, and the toll had not been settled by Thursday night. The ships have not been named.

The minister said Russian Shahed and other air and sea drones were straying into Romania with growing frequency, with three entering its airspace that day alone. Romanian fighter jets were sent up on preventive air policing missions, and NATO allies and European partners were informed.

Toiu called for a ceasefire at sea.

The strikes follow a string of drone attacks on commercial shipping in the western Black Sea this month, including the sinking of a cargo ship off Bulgaria’s coast. Ukraine raised the attacks at the OSCE in Vienna on Thursday, asking partners to hold Russia to account for strikes on commercial vessels.

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