Symbolic imageSearch resumes for seven missing sailors after Black Sea drone attack
Romania resumed the search on Friday for seven sailors missing from a drone-hit ship. Bulgaria's defence minister asked NATO for anti-drone systems.
Bloomberg reports that Romania warned of collateral risk from Russian attacks in the Black Sea. Drones hit two tankers in Romanian waters on Thursday, 15 October, and a NATO source told Reuters the drones were Russian. The Hindu reports fears that Moscow is escalating to test NATO's response.
Strikes on Turkish-linked ships
Le Monde counts four ships tied to Turkish owners hit by drones in eight days in early October, three of them sunk, with at least 12 dead and 11 missing. The Azov-Concord, run by Istanbul-based Sarfo Denizcilik, sank in the night of 12 to 13 October, and only five crew were rescued. After the Royad-Mammadov sank on 5 October, Romania's foreign minister Oana Toiu called the Black Sea the most dangerous place in the world for merchant ships.
Ankara stays measured
Le Monde reports that reactions in Ankara were markedly more restrained than European and Ukrainian ones. It reads this as Turkey's effort to keep a delicate balance between Moscow and the West.