Russia's Drone War Spills Into NATO Waters as Ships Sink and Sailors Die
Three cargo ships have been sunk or damaged by drone strikes in the exclusive economic zones of NATO member states, killing at least two sailors and injuring others. It is the first time attacks of this kind have directly hit waters under the jurisdiction of alliance members, and the EU is not happy about it.
On 6 October, the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan went to the bottom roughly 80 miles off the Bulgarian coast after being hit by a swarm of sea and aerial drones. The Palau-flagged Able was set ablaze in the same attack. A Bulgarian ferry pulled 18 crew from the burning Able, two of them seriously hurt and airlifted to hospital in Varna. The fate of the Alfa Watan's crew was not immediately confirmed.
The day before, drones struck the Turkish-owned Royad Mammadov inside Romanian waters. That vessel also caught fire and sank. Romanian ships and helicopters rescued 11 crew members, one remains missing, and two are dead.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attacks 'increasingly concerning' while carefully avoiding naming a culprit, noting that circumstances were 'still being established.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had no such hesitation. A joint investigation with Bulgaria's navy, he said, confirmed the strikes were a 'Russian combined attack using both sea and aerial drones.' He also made clear Ukraine was not operating in that stretch of water.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev called it 'an unacceptable attack' and 'a blatant violation of international law and maritime law.' Strong words. Whether they translate into anything more than strongly worded statements remains to be seen.
The Black Sea has been contested territory since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Ukraine, working without a conventional navy worth mentioning, has used drone boats and aerial drones to punch well above its weight, striking Russian warships and ports with real effect. Ukrainian drones have also targeted Russian-linked tankers and supply vessels. In a genuinely remarkable moment for naval history, a Ukrainian sea drone apparently used a mounted machine gun to destroy a Russian explosive drone boat in September 2026.
Russia has responded in kind, deploying its own drones against Ukrainian ships, ports, and commercial vessels carrying grain. The Able was hauling wheat when hit. The Royad Mammadov had loaded corn at the Ukrainian port of Ismail. The Alfa Watan's cargo remains unknown. Whatever the strategic rationale, the pattern is clear: civilian commercial shipping is now a target.
Zelenskyy has pointed to 'relevant proposals from third countries' on Black Sea security. India is one of them. New Delhi has been quietly talking to both sides, calling for a ceasefire while maintaining its strategic partnership with Moscow, which includes continued purchases of Russian oil and use of Russian military hardware. The human dimension is not abstract for India: three Indian nationals were aboard the Royad Mammadov, one of whom was injured.
The ship attacks are not happening in isolation. Across Europe, a pattern of incidents consistent with Russian hybrid warfare continues to grow, even as Russian embassy officials deny involvement.
In August, Romanian military divers pulled two Russian-made drones from the Black Sea near the Neptun Deep gas project. Weeks later, Romanian jets were scrambled to deal with an explosive-laden Russian drone boat found near the same platform. Germany formally accused Russia of organising an attempted drone strike on Ukrainian cargo aircraft at Leipzig Airport, also in August. Estonia linked Russian intelligence services to an arson attack on Milrem Robotics, a company that supplies Ukraine with military robots. Poland is treating a fire at a state-owned Starlink satellite station as deliberate sabotage consistent with what its Deputy Prime Minister called a 'new Russian doctrine of attack.'
NATO members are rearming, slowly, and trying to adapt to a style of warfare that Russia and Ukraine have been practising on each other for years. But the hybrid campaign playing out across European territory is a different kind of problem. Drone swarms and arson attacks are not tank columns. The alliance is still working out what an appropriate, proportionate response to a nuclear-armed state running a sustained sabotage operation through your backyard actually looks like.