A fighter jet has shot down a suspected Russian drone after it entered Romanian airspace, Romania’s Defence Ministry has said.
The incident happened on Sunday, making it the fourth time an unmanned aircraft has been shot down over Romania this year.
The drone was detected by radar after entering Romanian territory from neighbouring Moldova, about 24 kilometres north of the southeastern city of Galati.
An F-18 fighter jet, operated by a Spanish NATO contingent stationed in Romania, intercepted the drone after making radar contact with it.
The pilot was authorised to engage and successfully shot it down at about 5:01 a.m. local time.
The Romanian Defence Ministry said fragments of the drone fell in an uninhabited area between two villages.
Although the Romanian authorities did not officially confirm the drone’s origin, a NATO military spokesman, US Army Colonel Martin O’Donnell, said preliminary information suggested that it was Russian.
“Additional details regarding Sunday’s incident remain under investigation, but the drone appears to be Russian,” O’Donnell said.
Romania, a NATO member, shares a 614-kilometre border with Ukraine and has recorded several incursions into its airspace by Russian drones since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
NATO said it remained on alert and prepared to respond to any threat.
The latest incident comes weeks after Romanian F-16 fighter jets shot down three Russian drones that had entered the country’s airspace. It was the first time Romania had taken down Russian drones after recording dozens of such incursions.
In May, a Russian drone also crashed into an apartment building in Galati during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, injuring two people.
