Romania scrambles fighter jets over Danube amid suspected drone crash
Illustrative photo: Romania scrambled fighter jets over Russian drone attack against Ukraine on January 17 (Getty Images)
Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets tonight due to Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian cities near the Danube. One of the drones could have crashed on the Romanian coast, reports Digi24.
At about 01:45 a.m., an air alert was announced for residents of Romanian villages on the Danube, while explosions were heard from the Ukrainian side.
Later, the country's Defense Ministry reported that it had raised two F-16 fighters. The planes stayed in the sky for about two hours.
The Romanian ministry added that a “possible drone crash site” was discovered near the village of Plauru, opposite Ukrainian Izmail. Experts are working there to collect evidence for further investigation. The situation has been reported to NATO.
“The Ministry of National Defense sends a strong message of condemnation of these attacks carried out by Russia against civilian targets in Ukraine and infrastructure elements, which are unjustified and seriously contradict international law,” the Defense Ministry added.
Russian drones in Romania
Russian attack drones have repeatedly violated Romanian airspace during attacks on Ukraine, mostly when Russians try to attack the Odesa region.
The wreckage of Russian drones was found in Romania. Bucharest has been raising F-16 fighters to protect itself, but Russian drones are not being shot down.
At the end of December last year, Romania's radar systems detected a small flying object, presumably a drone, that violated national airspace at a distance of up to 6 km inland.
