Romania’s defense ministry confirmed on Saturday that its fighter jets came close to downing a Russian drone that breached the country’s airspace during an attack on Ukrainian infrastructure near the border.
Romanian Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu stated the drones were flying at an exceptionally low altitude which motivated the F-16 pilots to almost shoot it down, before it exited Romanian airspace and headed back toward Ukraine, reports agencies.
The drone incursion prompted Poland to send aircraft into the air and close an airport in Lublin, located in the eastern part of the country, as a precaution. This followed Poland’s successful interception of Russian drones three days earlier, with the support of NATO aircraft.
Romania, a NATO and EU member sharing a 650-kilometre border with Ukraine, has repeatedly dealt with Russian drone debris falling onto its soil since the war between Russia and Ukraine began.
On Saturday, the country deployed two F-16 fighter jets, followed by two Eurofighters from Germany’s air policing mission in Romania. The planes were sent to track the drone and warned residents of Tulcea, a county near the Danube and the Ukrainian border, to seek shelter.
The defence ministry reported that the jets successfully followed the drone, which disappeared from radar approximately 20 kilometres southwest of Chilia Veche.
Mosteanu added that helicopters would be dispatched to the border area to search for any remnants of the drone, though all available information indicated that it had exited Romanian airspace into Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to social media to say that data indicated the drone had entered Romanian airspace by about 10 kilometres and had remained in NATO airspace for around 50 minutes. He called the breach an “obvious expansion of the war by Russia” and emphasised the need for sanctions on Russia, tariffs on Russian trade, and a stronger collective defense.
Following recent drone incursions into Polish airspace, NATO announced plans to strengthen its defense of Eastern Europe on Friday. This marked the first instance of a NATO member firing shots at Russian drones during the ongoing conflict.
Earlier this year, Romanian lawmakers passed a law allowing the military to down drones entering its airspace during peacetime, depending on the level of threat and risk to public safety, but the bill does not yet have all enforcement rules approved.
