Is the war entering a new phase? Romania has blamed Russia for a drone strike that sank a cargo ship off Romania's Black Sea coast, killing one crew member and leaving three others missing. It's the latest drone attack targeting commercial shipping off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, with at least seven cargo ships hit and 30 sailors reported killed or missing in the past two weeks, raising fears of an escalation in Russia's war against Ukraine. The shipping data website MarineTraffic showed the Khoryv departed Turkiye on Wednesday and was headed for Romania's Sulina port, which links the Danube River to the Black Sea. The canal has become the primary route for Ukrainian exporters, which rely on ports on the Danube and Romanian territorial waters, as Russia has attacked Ukraine's own Black Sea ports.

Image caption, Romania's Maritime Coordination Centre has launched a search and rescue operation off the coast (file pic) Eight of 12 crew members are missing after a tanker caught fire off Romania's coast, naval authorities say, and there are reports of explosions on board. The San Marino-flagged Wine Trader was about 13 nautical miles (24km) east of the mouth of the River Danube at Sulina, when it reported explosions and a fire on Thursday morning. The west coast of the Black Sea has seen a spate of drone attacks in the past two weeks and there are unconfirmed reports from nearby ships that the tanker was hit by two drones. Swarms of Russian drones were detected overnight not far from the scene of Thursday's fire, near Ukraine's Snake Island. On Tuesday, two merchant ships were struck by drones further south along the coast of Bulgaria, Romania's neighbour, and one of the vessels sank.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ship catches fire in Romania's waters amid rising attacks in the Black Sea Share Ship catches fire in Romania's waters amid rising attacks in the Black Sea on social media A ship anchored in Romania's territorial waters has caught fire and the crew has been evacuated, Romanian authorities said. The incident comes amid growing concerns over hybrid attacks in the Black Sea involving Russia. Multiple drones breached Romanian airspace on Wednesday near its border with Ukraine. On Tuesday, two ships were hit in drone attacks off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, with one of them sinking, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.

Russia's attacks on Europe are getting more brazen and more dangerous Firefighters extinguish a fire inside a train carriage that was damaged by a drone strike near Ukraine's border with Poland on Saturday. Over the course of the summer, Russian attacks have been pushing ever deeper into European territory. On Aug. 11, military divers destroyed two drones floating off the coast of Romania near a €4 billion ($4.7 billion) energy project. Nine days later, Bucharest scrambled two F-16s to take out a maritime drone near the same Black Sea gas platform with hundreds of workers on board. Earlier that month, German police detected an armed UAV at Leipzig airport, while this week NATO jets downed another unmanned aircraft that entered Lithuanian airspace from neighboring Belarus, an ally of Moscow.

Is the war entering a new phase? Russian strikes on Ukraine have killed at least one person and wounded seven more while a Spanish jet has shot down a drone that entered Romanian airspace. A woman was killed and six others wounded in a missile and drone attack on Kryvyi Rig, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the region's governor said early on Sunday. Separately, Romania's Defence Ministry reported on Sunday that a Spanish F-18 fighter jet pilot on a NATO air policing mission to Romania had shot down a drone illegally breaching its national airspace. It is the fourth drone shot down in Romania this year .

Is the war entering a new phase? Romania has summoned Russia's ambassador as it has reported that it shot down three drones in as many days. A Romanian plane shot down a drone after an incursion into the country's airspace on Sunday morning, the Ministry of Defence reported. The incident followed similar interceptions on Friday and Saturday. Romania is one of several alliance members to confront repeated stray drones recently, as Russia and Ukraine launch hundreds of the unmanned aircraft daily.

Is the war entering a new phase? A Romanian fighter jet has shot down a drone, suspected to be Russian, that breached the country's airspace. The incident on Friday marked the first time the Eastern European country has intercepted an intruding aircraft since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, President Nicusor Dan noted. Romania is one of several alliance members to confront repeated stray drones recently, as Russia and Ukraine launch hundreds of drones daily. Dan reported that a Romanian F-16 jet shot down the drone after it entered the country's airspace, adding that the fighter had shot over an uninhabited area.

A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone that entered the country's airspace without authorization, marking the first such interception by the NATO member on its eastern flank.

'No-one feels safe now': Residents of Romanian city hit by drone share fears In some parts of Europe, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine can feel like a distant threat. But in Romania, that war is right next door and increasingly dangerous. In Galati, there is an apartment block with a hole in the roof that proves it. Residents have just begun returning to check on their homes, after an attack drone slammed into the building early on Friday as dozens of people slept. It sparked a fire and panic.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan says that the Russian consul in the southeastern city of Constanta will be expelled and the consulate shut down after a drone intended for Ukraine crashed into an apartment complex in the border town of Galati. Vance says US, Iran have made "a lot of progress" towards deal