BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (Reuters) – NATO will send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea, the military alliance said on Tuesday, after a series of deadly drone attacks on shipping in the region apparently linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The announcement came after NATO’s main decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, discussed security in the Black Sea at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters.
In addition to the aircraft, drones and radar systems, NATO members have sent or will send intelligence agents and teams to conduct forensic analysis of explosives, said U.S. Army Colonel Martin Martin L. O’Donnell, a NATO military spokesperson.
NATO has not attributed the recent spate of attacks to any country. Military analysts have said Russia almost certainly carried out the attacks but Moscow has not acknowledged responsibility for them.
Last week, seven sailors were reported missing after drones struck two chemical tankers near Romania’s Black Sea coast, setting them ablaze and raising fresh security concerns along a vital shipping route used by Ukraine.
At least five other cargo vessels were hit near the coasts of Romania and neighbouring NATO member Bulgaria over the previous 10 days, with at least 23 sailors reported missing or dead.
“NATO has already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank, including with counter-drone capabilities,” Allison Hart, NATO’s principal spokesperson, said in a post on X.
“We will continue to stand united and ensure that we are ready and able to address any threat and to keep our one billion people safe.”
(Reporting by Andrew Gray;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta;)
