The Romanian defense ministry announced on Friday that a Russian drone may have breached its national airspace for “a very brief period of under three minutes” overnight during an attack on neighboring Ukraine.
On Friday, September 27th, Russian forces carried out a new series of drone attacks on civilian targets and port infrastructure in Ukraine, in the vicinity of the Danube river border with NATO member Romania.
The drone attack on the southern Ukrainian town of Izmail, just across the Danube river from NATO member Romania, killed three people and injured 14, Odesa regional prosecutors said on Friday. The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 24 of 32 drones.
To monitor the situation, Romania deployed two F-16 fighter jets and two Spanish F-18s. All four fighter aircraft returned to the airbase around 4:00 a.m. According to the Romanian defense ministry,
During this time interval, Romania’s radar surveillance system indicated the possibility that one of the drones involved in the attack on the Ukrainian targets crossed the national airspace, around 3:00 a.m., for a very short period of less than three minutes, in border area with Ukraine.
The ministry announced to would investigate further, with aerial and ground searches in the area.
Romania condemned the Russian attacks against Ukrainian civil infrastructure, calling them “unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law.”
