Black Sea attacks on merchant ships kill 30 mariners and disrupt Ukraine's grain exports

Russian drone strikes on merchant ships have killed at least 30 sailors amid rising global wheat prices.

• Russian drones have struck at least a dozen merchant ships in recent weeks, killing or leaving missing at least 30 mariners, according to Bulgarian and Romanian authorities.
• On October 28, three naval drones struck the container ship Contship Jet Monrovia off Bulgaria's coast, and the vessel sank with all 18 crew rescued.
• Zelenskyy said Kyiv conducted no operations in that part of the sea and called the sinking part of Russia's effort to make the Black Sea unfit for navigation.
• Bulgaria has asked NATO to deploy combat aircraft and anti-drone systems, while Romania's F-16 patrols shot down two Russian drones over Romanian waters.