NATO to send planes and drones to Black Sea after attacks on shipping

NATO will send more maritime patrol aircraft, ​radar systems and drones to the Black Sea, the ‌military alliance said on Tuesday, after a series of deadly drone attacks on shipping in the region apparently linked to Russia's war in Ukraine. 

The announcement ​came after NATO's main decision-making body, the North Atlantic ​Council, discussed security in the Black Sea at the alliance's ⁠Brussels headquarters.

In addition to the aircraft, drones and radar systems, ​NATO members have sent or will send intelligence agents and teams ​to conduct forensic analysis of explosives, said U.S. Army Colonel Martin Martin L. O'Donnell, a NATO military spokesperson.

NATO has not attributed the recent spate of ​attacks to any country. Military analysts have said Russia almost ​certainly carried out the attacks but Moscow has not acknowledged responsibility for them.

Last ‌week, ⁠seven sailors were reported missing after drones struck two chemical tankers near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting them ablaze and raising fresh security concerns along a vital shipping route used by Ukraine.