Bulgaria has formally asked NATO for combat aircraft, air defenses and anti-drone systems after a string of drone attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. The Bulgaria NATO anti-drone request went to Secretary General Mark Rutte and the alliance’s Supreme Allied Commander, and NATO ambassadors are due to discuss it next week.
What Bulgaria asked NATO for
Stoyanov said Sofia sent letters asking the alliance to strengthen Bulgaria’s capabilities, including by deploying additional forces on Bulgarian territory. “We are awaiting their decision,” he said, according to Reuters. Romania’s national news agency Agerpres reported that the request covers fighter jets and counter-drone systems. A NATO official said ambassadors from the alliance’s 32 member states would take up the issue next week.
Bulgaria also expects to join a NATO anti-drone initiative by the end of October, and it has proposed a moratorium on attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea. Stoyanov said he plans to meet his Romanian and Turkish counterparts soon to agree on a common approach.
Black Sea drone attacks on shipping
The request follows two weeks of strikes close to NATO’s shores. On Oct. 6, two commercial ships were hit by sea and aerial drones in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. One of them, the Alfa Watan, sank, and all 10 crew members, nine of them Syrian, are presumed dead, the BBC reported.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, drones struck two more ships. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity sank about 17 nautical miles east of the village of Krapets; six crew members were rescued and 10 were reported missing. The Ukrainian-owned Chelsea-3 was hit about 18 nautical miles off the town of Byala, and all 15 of its crew were rescued. Later in the week, drones hit two ships that caught fire off Romania’s coast, Reuters reported. Politico Europe counted five commercial vessels struck in Bulgarian and Romanian waters in a single week, with at least four people dead.
Who is behind the attacks?
Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned Russia’s ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, after the Oct. 13 sinking. He said there was no conclusive evidence against “either side” but that the outcome benefits Russia. Bulgarian media quoted Mitrofanova as saying she had no information from Russia’s defense ministry and that the strikes could be a provocation by a third party. Stoyanov went further: “We assume the drones are Russian,” he said, adding that it would be illogical for Ukraine to target its own ships. Russia’s military has not commented publicly.
Ukraine has accused Russia directly, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Black Sea was becoming “another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine.” Attribution is not always simple, though. Ukraine also uses naval drones against Russian-linked shipping, and in June a Ukrainian sea drone exploded in Romania’s port of Constanta after Kyiv said Russian electronic interference had pushed it off course, Politico Europe reported. Our drone warfare guide explains how cheap unmanned systems have spread to the sea.
Why the location matters for NATO
The Dignity and the Chelsea-3 were hit just outside Bulgaria’s territorial waters, inside its exclusive economic zone. The BBC noted that a strike a few nautical miles farther west could have brought NATO’s Article 5 into play, the clause that treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all. Rutte met Radev and Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Thursday and said NATO would “continue to work closely with our Allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed.”
The attacks add pressure at a tense moment for Western policy on the war, as Washington and Kyiv argue over sanctions and security guarantees in a possible Ukraine peace deal.
Trade and insurance stakes in the Black Sea
The Black Sea carries grain and other exports out of Ukraine and is a busy trade route for Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. Politico Europe reported that insurers and investors are weighing the cost of operating through Ukrainian ports, and that draft conclusions for Thursday’s European Council summit called for the “immediate restoration of safe passage for grain cargo ships.” Cristian Vlas, an analyst at the conflict-monitoring group ACLED, told Politico that drone operations by both Russia and Ukraine are likely to continue as long as each has the money and production capacity to keep them going.
Sources
- Defense News (Reuters): Bulgaria seeks NATO anti-drone systems, defense minister says
- BBC News: Bulgaria summons Russian ambassador after ship sinks in Black Sea drone attack
- Politico Europe: Deadly drone strikes in NATO waters raise stakes for Black Sea trade
- Agerpres: Bulgaria asks NATO for fighter jets and anti-drone systems (Romanian)
- Rapporteur: Bulgaria seeks NATO planes, anti-drone defences after Black Sea attacks
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