NATO will step up surveillance over the Black Sea region by deploying additional maritime surveillance aircraft, radar systems, drones and teams to investigate explosions. The decision is in response to increased Russian attacks on Ukrainian export routes, Martin L. O'Donnell, spokesman for the Alliance's military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, told DPA, reports News.bg.
According to him, additional intelligence officers will also be sent to the region. The aim is to improve surveillance through the wider use of sensors and more intensive exchange of intelligence.
According to Bulgarian media reports, a US Navy P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft has already begun operating off the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Meanwhile, Romania has requested support from the European Union and NATO after a series of incidents last week.
Drone attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea have increased in recent weeks. Among the vessels affected are those carrying goods near the coasts of Bulgaria and Romania - two NATO member states.
Last week, the Ukrainian ship Chelsea 3 was hit by three drones 33 kilometers east of the Bulgarian coastal town of Byala. In another incident, a vessel was hit and sunk 31 kilometers off the coast near Krapets, near the Romanian border.
Earlier this month, a Turkish merchant ship carrying grain sank near the Romanian Black Sea city of Sfantu Gheorghe. The incident killed two crew members. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the vessel was hit by Russian drones.
The increased attacks have also prompted warnings of possible consequences for global food supplies. The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaia Kalas, recently said that the situation could lead to a new global food crisis.
Kalas stressed the importance of Ukraine as one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural products and warned that Russia's actions were making it increasingly difficult to provide food for the population around the world.
She said six attacks, allegedly carried out by Russian drones within 10 days, constituted a dangerous and unacceptable escalation.
Zelensky also expressed serious concerns about the security of shipping in the region, describing the attacks as "an expression of Russia's efforts to make the western part of the Black Sea completely unnavigable."