Key facts
- Romania shot down a second drone in its airspace on Saturday.
- The first drone, downed on Friday, was identified by prosecutors as Russian.
- The second drone was intercepted by an F-16 fighter jet near Sfântu Gheorghe.
- Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruta indicated the second drone's pattern was consistent with Russian flights.
- Romania has experienced approximately 30 Russian drone airspace breaches since 2022.
Romania announced on Saturday that its military had shot down a second drone in its airspace within 24 hours, with authorities suspecting Russian involvement. The first drone, downed on Friday, was identified by Romanian prosecutors as Russian. The second drone was intercepted by an F-16 fighter jet around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, approximately 10 km west of the village of Sfântu Gheorghe in the eastern part of the country, near the Ukrainian border.
Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruta stated that the pattern of the second drone was consistent with previous confirmed flights by Russian drones. Radar systems had detected the drone operating near the Ukrainian border, prompting two F-16 fighter jets to scramble. The drone was safely shot down in an unpopulated area.
This incident follows the downing of another unmanned aerial vehicle by a Romanian F-16 on Friday. The Romanian Defence Ministry confirmed that drone was engaged with an air-to-air missile while on an air policing mission. Two Italian air force Eurofighter Typhoons were also scrambled as a precaution. The first drone was detected over the Black Sea before heading west towards the port town of Sulina.
Romania, which shares a 650-km border with Ukraine, has reported approximately 30 Russian drone airspace breaches since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In May, a Russian drone carrying explosives crashed into an apartment block in Galați, injuring two people. A Ukrainian sea drone also exploded in the Romanian port of Constanta in June, which the Ukrainian navy attributed to Russian electronic warfare interference.