Nato source says drones came from Russia, while Romania’s president says attacking commercial ships ‘is unacceptable and has to stop’

Seven sailors are missing after drones struck two tankers near Romania’s Black Sea ⁠coast, setting them ablaze and raising ⁠fresh security concerns on a ​vital shipping route used by Ukraine.

A Nato military source told Reuters the drones that hit the Wine Trader and the Yara J came from Russia. “The drones that caused ⁠the fires on board two tankers inside Romanian territorial waters were of Russian origin,” the source said.

Theo Francken says bloc is in a ‘difficult position’ after recent increase in hybrid provocations from Moscow

Belgian defence minister Theo Francken said “there will be more hybrid threat actions” in the coming months, as he starkly warned “it will be a dark winter for Europe.”

Speaking at Euronews’s Defence and Space Summit, Francken said hybrid warfare “is not something that Russia [has been] doing for two or three years,” but for much longer and it has “expertise” in this area, often making it difficult for western countries to investigate them and attribute responsibility.

“Europe has been very good in investing in soft power, in social security. And it’s beautiful to have a pension system, to have social welfare systems [for] when somebody gets sick, when somebody lost his job – we have everything. But when there’s war or there’s hybrid threats, we don’t have anything. So yeah, we’re in a really difficult position.”

European and Nato leaders express support for Estonia after August attack on manufacturer in Tallinn

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European and Nato leaders have expressed full support for Estonia and Ukraine after the Baltic state said an August arson attack on a drone manufacturer supplying Kyiv was an act of sabotage commissioned by Moscow’s security services.

Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, said on social media on Tuesday that such attacks were “absolutely unacceptable” and that Russia’s chargé d’affaires in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, was being summoned to his ministry.

Warning comes hours after Poland says fire at Starlink satellite station was ‘act of sabotage’

Russia could launch a limited military attack against a Nato country in the coming months, Danish intelligence said, in one of the starkest warnings yet by western security services.

In a report published on Thursday, the Danish defence intelligence service warned of a “low but growing risk” that Russia could launch long-range strikes on Nato infrastructure supporting Ukraine, or carry out a limited incursion into a neighbouring country with a small number of troops, potentially operating without insignia.