Russian Invasion

Security in Europe
Greek vessel sunk in drone attack off Bulgaria

A Greek container ship has sunk following a drone attack off the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, Reuters reports. All 18 crew members have been rescued.

"We were warned of a possible drone attack, but were unable to prevent it," says Bulgarian Navy Chief Kiril Mihaylov.

The vessel was struck by three maritime drones. It remains unclear who is behind the attack. At least six vessels have been attacked off the coast of Bulgaria over the past month.

The Negotiations
Expert: Call turned into a "major diplomatic blunder"

Putin likely agreed to the call with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb because he knew it would create discord within the Nordic region, Finnish Russia expert Arkady Moshes tells SvD.

Moscow will exploit the call to propagate the image of a divided Europe incapable of exerting any pressure on Russia, he says.

Moshes believes that Støre and Stubb came out as the losers in this instance, as they reportedly listened to Putin’s hour-long history lecture instead of interrupting him.

"That makes this a much greater diplomatic blunder. In a meeting like this, one should be assertive and demanding," he says. 

Praises talks with Putin: "We need to step up and be visible"

Diplomat Jan Eliasson praises the phone calls made by Jonas Gahr Støre and Alexander Stubb to Vladimir Putin, despite criticism from figures including Mette Frederiksen, reports *Expressen*.

"We need to step up and make ourselves visible on the international stage. We have strong traditions when it comes to mediation and international conflict resolution," he says, referring to the five Nordic countries.

The criticism from Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Denmark, centered partly on the fact that the calls were not coordinated with other European leaders. Eliasson acknowledges that such coordination would have been sensible.

Eliasson served as Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2006 and has held the position of Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. 

The Fighting
Russia: Over a hundred drones targeted Moscow – air traffic halted

Around one hundred drones aimed at Moscow, Russia, were shot down overnight into Thursday, according to the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, writing on Telegram.

It remains unclear whether anyone was injured or killed in the attacks.

Several dead in Russian attack on a train station in Dnipro

At least 14 people have been killed in a Russian drone attack on a train station in Dnipro, Ukraine, local authorities stated, according to AFP.

Around ten other people were reportedly injured in the attack, including a child. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a platform where a commuter train and a regular passenger train were located was struck.

“How many terrorist attacks has Russia directed against our people since the sanctions against certain Russian oligarchs and the Russian energy sector were lifted?” Zelenskyy writes on X.

According to The Kyiv Independent, air traffic near the capital was halted. Two planes arriving from Turkey were forced to turn back.