Romania scrambled F-16s in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine
On the night of May 18–19, Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets in response to a Russian drone attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure in the Izmail area.
This was reported by the Romanian Ministry of National Defense, citing Agerpres.
The Romanian defense ministry noted that Russian forces carried out a new series of drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania, in Tulcea County.
In this regard, an air raid alert was declared in areas near the border with Ukraine.
“Two F-16 fighter jets, performing a combat mission to patrol the airspace, took off at approximately 1:45 a.m. from the 86th Air Base in Fetești… Ground-based radars detected a group of drones that struck the port of Izmail in Ukraine. No radar signals were detected in Romania’s national airspace. The air raid alert ended at 02:57,” the ministry’s statement reads.
It is noted that the Romanian Ministry of National Defense is providing real-time updates to allied agencies on the situation caused by the attacks and remains in constant contact with them.
Romania summonedthe Russian ambassador over the crash of a drone near Galați.
It later emerged that the drone that crashed in Galați was carrying an explosive charge. People were evacuated from the area, and as a precautionary measure, gas supply was cut off on 20 streets, Digi24 reports.
As a reminder, during Russia’s massive nighttime attack on April 25, Ukrainian air defenses were able to destroy over 90% of aerial targets, including drones and missiles.
