Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense has been convened after a Russian drone struck an apartment block in the southeastern city of Galati during the night, injuring two people and requiring the evacuation of the building.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said that the country will “order proportionate measures in relation to the Russian Federation”.
“The unprecedented nature of the event demands a firm, coordinated, and appropriate response—at the national, allied, and international levels,” he said.
According to the Romanian Ministry of National Defense, the incident occurred during widespread Russian drone attacks against Ukrainian targets in the vicinity of the Romanian border.
“A drone entered the Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar systems as far as the Southern area of Galați municipality, and crashed onto the roof of a residential apartment building, the impact causing a fire,” a ministry release said.
Following the detection of the violation of its airspace, the ministry said that two F-16 aircraft were scrambled, supported by a helicopter.
However, the Romanian president said that a decision not to engage the drone was taken because “the conditions did not exist to destroy it without the heightened risk of endangering civilian safety”.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in response to the incident that “NATO stands ready to defend every inch of Allied territory” and that the alliance would “continue to strengthen our deterrence and defence at home and continue our support for Ukraine as they defend against Russia’s aggression”.
In the wake of the drone incursion, the Russian ambassador was summoned to the headquarters of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Romania’s security is our absolute priority. We have confirmation from the Ministry of National Defence that the drone which crashed into a residential building in Galați was of Russian origin,” Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Toiu Oana said this morning.
“The decision was taken following this extremely serious incident, and we will officially communicate the consequences that this lack of responsibility on the part of the Russian Federation will have for the diplomatic relations between our countries, as well as the next steps at the European level regarding sanctions packages,” she said.
Commenting this morning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Russia “has crossed yet another line”.
“A Russian drone incursion struck a densely populated area in Romania, injuring civilians. On EU territory,” she wrote, adding “we stand in full solidarity with Romania and its people”.
Ms von der Leyen said that the Union is preparing a 21st package of sanctions on Russia, and that it would continue to “strengthen security and deterrence, especially on our Eastern border”.
The Romanian drone incident is the latest in a series of spillover incursions resulting from the war in Ukraine, recent weeks seeing a number of drone sightings in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, prompting air raid alerts and the scrambling of NATO jets.
Earlier this month, the Latvian government collapsed following political turmoil over the increasing drone pressures on the country.
Russia has meanwhile accused the Baltic states of allowing their territory to be used for the launching of drones by the Ukrainian military, as well as opening their airspace to the Ukrainian air force.
“According to the information obtained, Kiev does not intend to limit itself to using the air corridors made available to the AFU by the Baltic states.
“Drones are also planned to be launched from the territory of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The calculation is that such tactics will significantly reduce the flight time to targets and increase the effectiveness of terrorist attacks,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.