Romania blames Russia after drone sinks cargo ship

Romania blames Russia for a drone strike that sank the cargo ship Khoryv off its Black Sea coast on Friday. One sailor is dead and three are missing. The ship was bound for Sulina, the Danube channel that has become Ukraine’s main export route for grain and vegetable oil. The attack hits the farmers and traders who depend on that route, and it happened beside Romania, an EU and NATO member.

The Comoros-flagged vessel was about 13 nautical miles (24 kilometres) off the port of Constanta, just outside Romanian territorial waters, when it sent a distress signal around 10am local time. Romania’s naval authority says nine of the 13 crew, Ukrainians and Azeris, were rescued. One body was recovered. Poor weather and low visibility slowed the search. Video released by the authorities shows only a small part of the hull above the waves as the ship went down.

Why Romania blames Russia now

President Nicusor Dan told reporters that the sinking was “part of Russia’s escalation process in its war in Ukraine”, and said the ship was hit by a drone. Prime Minister Luca Niculescu called the attack unacceptable and a flagrant violation of international law in a Facebook post.

That goes further than the position described on 20 October, when NATO, Bulgaria and Romania had not directly attributed the attacks on shipping to any country, while military analysts said Russia almost certainly carried them out. The Kremlin denies responsibility. Russian officials had not commented publicly on the Khoryv at that time.

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Seven ships in two weeks

At least seven cargo ships have been hit off Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, with about 30 sailors reported killed or missing. Most of the attacks happened near the Sulina Channel. Romanian jets shot down two of what are described as the latest-generation Russian drones over Romanian waters the previous Saturday.

The pattern runs back to 5 October, when Romania reported two dead after a ship burned and sank near an oil platform. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russian drones. On 13 October a drone attack sank a ship off Bulgaria, and on 15 October two chemical tankers were set ablaze near Romania’s coast with seven sailors reported missing.

NATO sends sensors

On 20 October, NATO spokesman Colonel Martin O’Donnell said allies “have or will send” more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems, intelligence personnel and drones to the Black Sea. The stated aim is to increase situational awareness through sensors and data sharing. Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria have asked NATO to fast-track additional surveillance capabilities to protect commercial shipping.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called six suspected Russian drone attacks in ten days “a dangerous and unacceptable escalation”. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attacks “reckless”. Moldova’s foreign ministry said the escalation endangers civilian lives and freedom of navigation.

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The grain route sits inside the target zone

Kallas said the Kremlin likely aims to cut Kyiv’s grain export revenue, and warned of a “perfect storm” for global food supplies. That is her assessment, and Russia has not accepted responsibility for any of the strikes.

The channel was already crowded. In late August, about 70 vessels were waiting near the Danube route into Ukrainian ports, with the constrained Sulina route handling two to three ships a day. Shipowners, crews and insurers were by then trying to cut their time in higher-risk areas, and some vessels waited off Romania before entering Ukrainian waters.

What happens to the queue now depends on whether the surveillance NATO promised on 20 October arrives before the next ship does.