Drone crashes in Romania as Russia attacks Ukraine, defense ministry says

(LONDON) — A drone crashed on the territory of NATO member Romania during Russia’s overnight attack on Ukrainian targets along the Danube River, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Radars “signaled the presence of groups of drones in the area neighboring the national airspace, which led to the preventive activation of air defense systems,” the ministry said in a statement posted to its website.

One “aerial vehicle” was reported impacting in the Grindu area, around 3 miles south of the shared border, the ministry said.

“Teams made up of military personnel went on-site and reported the presence of possible drone fragments,” it added. “The area was secured and investigations are to be conducted in the early hours.”

“Weather conditions in the southeast of the country prevented the aircraft conducting air policing missions from scrambling,” the ministry said of its air force assets.

Alert messages were sent to residents of Romania’s northern Tulcea County, along the Danube River which forms the border with Ukraine, the ministry said. On the other side of the river, “a large number of explosions were observed” around the port of Izmail, it added.

The drone incursion came as Ukraine defended another night of intense Russian attacks. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 119 drones of various types into the country overnight, of which 53 were shot down or suppressed.

The air force said 59 drones impacted across 18 locations, with drone debris reported falling in one location.

The Odesa region — which borders Romania to the west and encompasses Ukraine’s Danube River ports — was among the main targets of Monday night’s barrage, the air force said.

Russian drone and missile incursions into Romanian airspace have become a relatively common occurrence as Moscow expands its long-range strikes into Ukraine.

Romania’s Defense Ministry told ABC News in September that it had recorded at least 11 violations of the country’s airspace by drones since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A ministry spokesperson said there had been approximately 50 attacks involving Russian drones on Ukrainian territory near Romania’s borders up until mid-September, of which 30 saw drone debris falling on Romanian territory.

Such incidents have become “almost routine” for Romanians, Constantin Spinu, a former spokesperson for Romania’s Defense Ministry, told ABC News.

“There is a war going on right across the border, so this situation is no longer a surprise for Romanian public opinion,” he added.

The Defense Ministry and wider government, though, “are taking this very seriously,” Spinu added.

Repeated incursions of Russian projectiles have prompted questions as to NATO’s readiness to defend its airspace. In September, Poland became the first NATO nation to shoot down Russian drones over its territory.

Romania is yet to down any intruding Russian munitions. “There is always a risk-benefit calculus — and that is to be sometimes in seconds,” Spinu said. “Whenever you shoot something in the air, you have to take into consideration that you might not hit the target and your projectile can be a danger.”

As NATO scrambles to revitalize its military-industrial base and refill its arsenals, there is also the question of resources.

“You don’t use an F-35 missile or an F-16 missile that costs millions” against a relatively cheap drone, Spinu said. “But should that €2,000 drone represent a real danger for the population, I think it is worth using a multi-million piece of equipment.”

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