NATO Responds: Fighter Jets Down Drone Over Romania Near Moldova Border

In the early hours of Sunday morning, two Spanish F-18 fighter jets, already on high alert as a precautionary measure, received authorization to intervene against an unidentified drone. The incident, occurring at 04:44, began with the drone being sighted 24 kilometres north of the town of Galati in Romania. The aircraft was subsequently intercepted and destroyed between the towns of Baleni and Cudalbi, situated in the south-east of the country, in an area proximate to the border with Moldova. Romanian authorities have not yet confirmed the origin of the drone.

Following the successful interception, Romania's Defence Minister extended congratulations to both the Spanish pilots and the Romanian military personnel overseeing the command centre. In his message, the Minister, Miruta, stressed Romania's active defence of its airspace and highlighted the unwavering backing of its allies. He characterized this allied support as a tangible security guarantee, firmly rooted in vigilance, rapid response, and solidarity among the Alliance's member countries. The Minister further emphasized Romania's critical position on the front line of the European Union's defence, attributing this role to the approximately 614 kilometres of land border the country shares with Ukraine.

This latest incident occurred amidst a backdrop of escalating exchanges of attacks between Russia and Ukraine. Recent reports detail Russian bombardments triggering extensive fires in Kyiv, resulting in at least two injuries. Simultaneously, Moscow claimed it had been targeted by more than 600 drones launched by Kyiv, which reportedly left three people wounded on Russian territory.

The interception of the drone on Sunday is not an isolated occurrence but rather the most recent addition to a substantial list of incursions recorded in Romanian airspace in recent weeks, indicative of heightened tensions on the eastern flank. Last Thursday, two Spanish F-18s had previously scrambled from the Mihail Kogălniceanu base after an airborne object was detected near the river border with Ukraine. This particular drone spent around 12 minutes within Romanian territory before returning to Ukraine, necessitating an SMS alert to residents of Tulcea county. A day later, another drone crashed in Romania after traversing the country's airspace undetected by radar, reportedly due to its extremely low altitude. Concurrently, tensions were also mounting in the Baltic region, where allied fighter jets successfully shot down another drone over Latvian territory. Earlier in the month, an unidentified device, after entering Bulgarian airspace from Romanian territory, exploded near the border with Romania.

The most serious precedent among these incidents dates back to May 29, when a Russian drone struck a residential block in Galati, sparking a fire and injuring two people. The Atlantic Alliance, at that time, described this event as an irresponsible escalation by Russia. In response to these persistent threats, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reiterated the organization's steadfast readiness to defend every inch of allied territory against such aggressions.