Romanian President Nicusor Dan has accused Russia of escalating its attacks on NATO's eastern flank, after a drone strike sank a cargo ship off the Romanian Black Sea coast, killing at least one sailor, with three still missing.
Video released by Romanian authorities on Friday showed only a small part of the capsized tanker's hull still visible above the waves as it sank.
Emergency vessels searched the surrounding waters for survivors in choppy seas and high winds.
Romania's naval authority said the Comoros-flagged Khoryv, with a crew of 13 Ukrainian and Azerbaijani sailors, had sent a distress signal 13 nautical miles off Romania's port of Constanta, just beyond Romanian territorial waters.
Nine sailors were rescued from the water, three were missing, and one body was recovered.
Part of ‘Russian escalation process’
The past two weeks have seen a sudden surge in deadly attacks on commercial ships off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, with at least seven cargo ships hit and some 30 sailors reported dead or missing.
"It is part of Russia's escalation process in its war in Ukraine," President Dan told reporters, later saying the ship had been hit by a drone.
NATO said on Tuesday it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea. The alliance has not specified what capabilities would be sent.
On Saturday, Romanian jets shot down two of the latest generation of Russian drones over Romanian territorial waters.
The vessels that have been struck lately have either been anchored near or headed towards the Sulina Canal, which links the Danube River to the Black Sea.
The canal has become the primary export route for Ukraine, one of the world's biggest grain and food oil exporters, which has relied on Danube River ports and Romanian territorial waters as Russia has attacked Ukraine's own Black Sea ports.
Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria have called on NATO to do more to protect commercial shipping in the Black Sea.
EU ‘alarmed’ about escalation in Black Sea
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday she was "deeply alarmed" after Russia was blamed for the drone attack.
"Deeply alarmed by yet another Russian escalation in the Black Sea. A civilian vessel carrying Ukrainian and Azerbaijani crew has been struck off the coast of Romania. These reckless attacks target innocent lives and openly defy international law," von der Leyen posted online.
