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Suspected Russian drone attacks on shipping in the Black Sea are worsening a "perfect storm" facing global food supplies, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday, as the manager of a tanker hit off Romania blamed Russia and Bulgaria said it found drone debris on another attacked vessel.
"Six attacks in 10 days by suspected Russian drones mark a dangerous and unacceptable escalation in the Black Sea," Kallas told the European Parliament.
"Russia’s actions make it harder to put food on people’s plates across the world," she added.
Ukraine supplies about 15% of global maize exports, 10% of wheat and half of sunflower oil, with around 90% shipped via the Black Sea, so attacks spreading into Romanian and Bulgarian waters threaten food security far beyond the region.
"Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s export routes. Ukraine is losing an estimated €60 million a day in export revenues," Kallas said.
"Global grain stockpiles are larger than in 2022, when Russia blockaded 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain. But the global food system is now facing a perfect storm: a super El Nino, drought in both hemispheres, and conflict in the Middle East, straining fertilizer exports," she said.
Kallas warned that suspected Russian attacks on border crossings with Moldova, Romania and Poland were putting the EU’s Solidarity Lanes at risk.
She said the EU was working with partners including Türkiye and India on a freedom-of-navigation arrangement for the Black Sea. "Ukraine has proposed it. Russia has rejected it."
"The problem in Bulgaria, Varna, Romania is a common European problem," said Bulgarian lawmaker Andrey Novakov, calling for an EU mission to protect merchant shipping.
"I am fully convinced that Russia is responsible for the strike on the ship," Salvadore Adorno of the tanker’s Italy-based manager told Bulgarian outlet Maritime.bg.
He said rescued crew reported three drones. "They hit the living quarters. Two drones crash into them. The third hits the deck."
Seven crew members remain missing, including six Beninese and one Russian national, and the search has ended, Adorno said. Russia’s Defense Ministry had claimed a Geran drone strike on a cargo ship it said was carrying military goods off Ukraine; Maritime.bg reported the released footage matched the Wine Trader, which was hit in Romania’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Bulgarian Transport Minister Georgi Peev said drone debris was found on the Chelsea 3, attacked Oct. 13 and now in Burgas port, and will be examined by security services.
He said maritime security information is being shared with Romania and Türkiye and that ship traffic at Varna and Burgas has not declined.
Ukraine also approved a state guarantee mechanism covering up to 80% of damage to commercial vessels hit by Russian strikes when war risks are not covered by insurance, Ukraine’s Seaports Authority said. It applies to Ukrainian and foreign-flagged ships carrying non-military cargo to Ukrainian ports.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the security situation, including in the Black Sea.
They also discussed Türkiye's "excellent contributions to NATO’s deterrence and defense," NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said.
Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said American companies had complained to Washington about Ukrainian strikes on ships carrying energy cargo in the Black Sea, in an interview with Breitbart, as attacks on Black Sea shipping mount.
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