Kallas: Six Suspected Russian Drone Attacks on Black Sea Ships in 10 Days, NATO Sending More Assets

Six attacks in 10 days. That is how EU High Representative Kaja Kallas described the run of suspected Russian drone strikes on civilian shipping in the Black Sea when she addressed the European Parliament on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

"Six attacks in 10 days by suspected Russian drones marks a dangerous and unacceptable escalation in the Black Sea," Kallas said. The ships were hit off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, both EU and NATO members.

What Kallas said it costs

Kallas argued that Moscow is going after Ukraine's income because its forces are bogged down on the front line. "Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine's export routes," she said. "Ukraine is losing an estimated 60 million euros a day in export revenues." That figure is her estimate, not an audited number.

The stakes reach beyond Ukraine. Ukraine is a major global supplier of staples such as maize, wheat and barley, with the vast majority passing through the Black Sea.

Kallas said global grain stockpiles are larger than in 2022, when Russia blockaded 20 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain. But she said the food system now faces "a perfect storm: a super El Nino, drought in both hemispheres, and conflict in the Middle East, straining fertiliser exports."

"Russia's actions make it harder to put food on people's plates across the world," she said.

The tanker and the debris

One of the ships was the tanker Wine Trader, hit in Romania's Exclusive Economic Zone. Salvadore Adorno of the tanker's Italy-based manager told the Bulgarian outlet Maritime.bg he is "fully convinced that Russia is responsible."

Adorno said rescued crew reported three drones. Two struck the living quarters and the third hit the deck. Seven crew members remain missing, six Beninese and one Russian national, and the search has ended, he said.

Russia's Defense Ministry has claimed a Geran drone strike on a cargo ship it said was carrying military goods off Ukraine. Maritime.bg reported that the footage the ministry released matched the Wine Trader.

On the Bulgarian side, Transport Minister Georgi Peev said drone debris was found on the Chelsea 3, which was attacked Oct. 13 and is now in Burgas port. Security services will examine it. Peev said maritime security information is being shared with Romania and Türkiye, and that ship traffic at Varna and Burgas has not declined.

Romania has also put fighter jets into the picture. The Romanian Defence Ministry released cockpit video of an F-16 pilot engaging a drone over the Black Sea near Sulina on Oct. 17.

Backup routes under pressure

Since 2022 the EU has built overland "solidarity lanes" to move Ukrainian goods through member states instead of across the sea. Kallas said those are now exposed too. "Russia is now also targeting border crossings with Moldova and Romania and Poland, which puts the alternative routes at risk too," she said.

EU leaders last week called for the "immediate restoration of safe passage for civilian shipping" in the Black Sea.

Kallas said the EU is working with partners including Türkiye and India on a freedom-of-navigation arrangement for the Black Sea. "Ukraine has proposed it. Russia has rejected it," she said.

NATO and the EU respond

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said Tuesday the alliance will send "additional assets" to the region, "including support for surveillance, reconnaissance, and forensics."

Bulgarian lawmaker Andrey Novakov went further, calling the situation in Bulgaria, Varna and Romania "a common European problem" and urging an EU mission to protect merchant shipping.

The attacks are described as suspected Russian strikes, and the Bulgarian forensic work on the Chelsea 3 debris is one concrete step toward establishing who launched them. Whether NATO's added surveillance leads to an EU or alliance escort mission remains an open question, and a navigation deal looks unlikely while Russia rejects the proposal.