Ukraine says Russian drone attack sinks ship in Romanian waters

The incident is the latest suspected Russian drone incursion, as fears grow that the war in Ukraine could spill over.

Firefighters and rescuers work near a helicopter at an emergency helicopter base in Constanta, Romania, October 5, 2026 [Romanian Interior Ministry/Reuters]

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed a Russian drone attack for the sinking of a ship in Romania’s section of the Black Sea.

Romania reported that two people were killed and 11 rescued when a grain ship caught fire and sank in its waters on Monday. The Ukrainian president’s claim suggests the incident is the latest in a series of suspected incursions along NATO’s eastern flank, and will fuel concerns that Moscow’s war in Ukraine could spill over.

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“A horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel in neutral waters carrying corn and owned by Turkiye,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

According to the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the coastguard was alerted at about 11am local time (08:00 GMT) that a fire had broken out on the ship, adding that it was in the country’s “exclusive economic zone”.

The ministry did not identify the cause of the fire.

Azerbaijani and Indian citizens were on board the ship at the time of the attack, it is reported.

The fire-damaged “Royad Mammadov” ship in the Black Sea after a fire aboard the vessel outside Romania’s territorial waters left two people dead and prompted a rescue operation [Handout/Romanian Interior Ministry via Reuters]

Romania is among several NATO members to have reported incursions this year, as Russia and Ukraine have increasingly turned to launches of hundreds of drones and missiles.

In May, a Russian drone hit an apartment building . In June, a stray Ukrainian maritime drone exploded in the Black Sea port of Constanta. In July , Bucharest summoned Russia’s ambassador after air defences intercepted three drones within the span of one week.

Incursions by Russian drones into eastern European airspace are seen by some as a test of NATO and the European Union’s defences and response capabilities.

The Baltic states have also seen drones enter their airspace throughout the war, with airspace violations contributing to the collapse of Latvia’s government in late May after a dispute over how to respond to the incursions.

The incursions have also prompted Poland to bolster its air defence posture after accusing Moscow of violating its airspace in September. Suspected drones were shot down twice in Moldova.

Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said the Romanian Naval Forces had destroyed nine drifting sea mines in the Black Sea since the start of the war.

这是近期疑似俄罗斯无人机入侵的最新一起事件，人们越来越担心乌克兰战争可能会蔓延到其他国家。

2026年10月5日，在罗马尼亚康斯坦察的一个紧急救援直升机基地，消防员和救援人员在直升机附近工作。[罗马尼亚内政部/路透社]

乌克兰总统泽连斯基指责俄罗斯无人机袭击导致一艘船只在罗马尼亚黑海海域沉没。

罗马尼亚报告称，周一一艘运粮船在其水域起火沉没，造成两人死亡，11人获救。乌克兰总统的说法表明，这起事件是近期一系列疑似北约东翼入侵事件中的最新一起，并将加剧人们对莫斯科在乌克兰的战争可能蔓延至其他地区的担忧。

泽连斯基称，俄罗斯“新战略”针对乌克兰平民目标（共四项，此为第一项）。

列表 2/4：俄罗斯一辆皮卡车试图运载军用直升机时翻车

乌克兰已准备好在美国的支持下与俄罗斯进行谈判（名单共4份，此为第3份）：泽连斯基

列表 4/4 被困在被占领的奥列什基：乌克兰人面临饥饿、无人机和地雷的威胁

泽连斯基在社交媒体上写道：“两架俄罗斯无人机对一艘在中立水域运载玉米、属于土耳其的民用船只发动了骇人听闻的袭击。”

据罗马尼亚内政部称，海岸警卫队于当地时间上午 11 点左右（格林尼治标准时间 08:00）接到警报，称一艘船发生火灾，并补充说该船位于该国的“专属经济区”内。

该部门没有确定火灾原因。

据报道，袭击发生时，船上有阿塞拜疆和印度公民。

黑海中一艘名为“Royad Mammadov”的货轮在罗马尼亚领海外发生火灾，造成两人死亡，并引发救援行动。[图片由罗马尼亚内政部通过路透社提供]

今年，包括罗马尼亚在内的几个北约成员国都报告了入侵事件，因为俄罗斯和乌克兰越来越多地使用数百架无人机和导弹进行攻击。

5月，一架俄罗斯无人机撞上了一栋公寓楼。6月，一架乌克兰海上无人机在黑海港口城市康斯坦察爆炸。7月，一周内防空部队拦截了三架无人机后，布加勒斯特召见了俄罗斯大使。

一些人认为，俄罗斯无人机入侵东欧空域是对北约和欧盟防御及应对能力的一次测试。

在整个战争期间，波罗的海国家也多次遭遇无人机入侵其领空，领空侵犯事件导致拉脱维亚政府在 5 月下旬因如何应对入侵而发生争执，最终导致政府垮台。

这些入侵事件也促使波兰加强了防空态势，此前波兰指责莫斯科在9月份侵犯了其领空。在摩尔多瓦，疑似无人机被击落两次。

罗马尼亚国防部表示，自战争开始以来，罗马尼亚海军已在黑海摧毁了九枚漂浮水雷。