Officials reported that Romania shot down a drone on Sunday. This marks the third instance in as many days that NATO aircraft intercepted uncrewed aerial vehicles.
Romanian President Nicușor Dan stated that a Romanian F-16 fighter jet intercepted the drone at 10:13 a.m. local time. The incident occurred near Romania’s border with southwestern Ukraine.
Bucharest has frequently observed drone incursions from Ukraine, particularly when Russia targets Ukrainian ports near the Danube River. This river delineates part of Romania’s 400-mile land border with Ukraine.
Despite the drone incidents, NATO has not yet classified these as attacks on the alliance. Consequently, there has been no collective response from the 32 member nations. However, these persistent events drive eastern European NATO members to enhance anti-drone defenses.
Romania’s defense ministry reported the drone was downed safely, over seven miles northeast of the port of Sulina, within Romania’s territorial waters.
Authorities did not specify if the drone on Sunday was of Russian origin. Nevertheless, Dan expressed intolerance towards the Russian Federation’s continued airspace violations, highlighting the concern over NATO and European Union airspace.
On Saturday, Romanian officials neutralized another drone in an uninhabited area near the Ukrainian border. Radar systems detected this drone at 8:22 a.m. local time. This incident followed a Friday interception, where two Romanian F-16s and two Italian Eurofighter jets responded to a drone near Romania’s airspace. Investigators later identified the drone as Russian-made.
Debris from the intercepted drone and missile fell near two towns northeast of Bucharest. Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries.
The governor of Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region issued several air raid alerts on Sunday morning for border areas with Romania.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry announced an attack on the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk. The operation targeted fuel tanks utilized by the Ukrainian military and is located southwest of Odesa city.