Attacks on Black Sea cargo ships surge near Nato states

A Greek container ship was sunk by naval drones in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone last week. Ambrey said 74 vessels were struck in the previous half-year. In the third quarter, Ukraine carried out 137 attacks on ships and Russia carried out 92. In October, Russia hit 38 ships and Ukraine struck five.

Romania's government accused Russia of systematic strikes on civilian ships. Bulgaria did not blame Russia but said some attacks seem to benefit it. Ambrey said a naval drone seen on video of the last strike looked like a Russian type.

Sidharth Kaushal, a senior fellow at the RUSI think tank, called the attacks an escalation. Iulia Joja of the Middle East Institute said Russia is testing red lines. A Nato official said the attacks aim to dissuade allies from supporting Ukraine, and that Nato's duty to defend all members is firm. Russia says European governments escalate the war with military aid.

Russian grain exports through the two seas fell to 300,000 tonnes in September, from 4.74 million tonnes a year earlier. Ukraine's port grain exports were 810,000 tonnes, against 2.1 million tonnes. Naval analyst Andriy Ryzhenko said cutting grain volumes is Russia's main goal, with testing Nato second. Nato has committed $40bn (R666.4bn) to counter-drone capabilities over five years.