Romania shot down a drone over its territory for the third time in three days
On July 26, Romanian President Nicușor Dan announced that another drone had been shot down over the country’s territory. This is the third such incident in the last three days.
According to Dan, on Sunday at 10:13 a.m., an F-16 fighter jet of the Romanian Air Force shot down a drone over Romanian territorial waters in the Sulina–Kilia area. The president thanked the Romanian pilots and ground crews for their professionalism and effective execution of their missions.
He also noted that, according to the findings of an investigation by the Romanian General Prosecutor’s Office, one of the previously shot-down drones was identified as a Shahed-type drone, which Russia is using in the war against Ukraine. Investigations into the drones shot down on Saturday and Sunday are currently ongoing.
“It is unacceptable and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania’s airspace, which is also the airspace of NATO and the European Union. Such actions are unacceptable, and we take them very seriously, together with our allies,” stated Nicușor Dan.
Following the latest incident, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador. The ministry’s head, Oana Țoiu, stated that Bucharest’s diplomatic protest would depend on the results of investigations into the airspace violations.
“In connection with these repeated violations, the ambassador of the Russian Federation was summoned to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the ministry reported.
Romania emphasized that it considers such incidents to be serious violations, as the country’s airspace is part of the areas of responsibility of NATO and the European Union.
This was reported by the head of state on the social media platform X and by the Romanian Foreign Minister on Facebook.
As a reminder, the Romanian prosecutor’s office determined that the drone shot down on July 24 over Buzău County was a Russian “Shahed”-type drone. Law enforcement officials officially confirmed the drone’s origin after conducting the necessary forensic analysis.
On July 24, an F-16 fighter jet of the Romanian Air Force shot down a drone that had entered the country’s airspace for the first time. The incident marked the first combat use of a Romanian F-16 against an intruding drone.
On the afternoon of July 23, an air raid alert was issued in the Romanian county of Tulcea, which borders Ukraine, due to a Russian attack on the Odesa region.
Four NATO fighter jets were scrambled in response to a drone over Romania.
