&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Spanish F-18 shoots down drone after it breaches Romanian airspace near Ukraine")
A Spanish fighter jet on NATO duties shot down a drone after it breached Romanian airspace near the country’s border with Ukraine and Moldova, Romania’s defence ministry said on Sunday (Aug 16). The drone entered from Moldova and was intercepted by an F-18 deployed on NATO duties.
The ministry added that the debris fell in the Galati region near the Ukrainian border, an unpopulated area. The incident happened at 5:01 am local time. According to authorities, no casualties or damage was immediately reported.
Romania’s Black Sea coast lies close to Ukrainian areas that have repeatedly come under Russian attack. In particular, Ukrainian ports along the Danube River, situated close to Romania’s border, have been targeted during the war.
Romanian authorities have repeatedly found fragments of drones on their territory since 2023 following Russian strikes in the region. The latest incident, however, highlights the increasing pressure on NATO’s air-defence systems as drones linked to the conflict cross into allied airspace.
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Last month, Romania also shot down a drone after it entered the country’s airspace roughly 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Bucharest. It was the first time Romania had taken such action since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Similar airspace incidents have raised concerns across NATO’s eastern flank. Poland and the Baltic states have also reported breaches linked to the war.
On Friday, NATO said Italian fighter jets operating under its air-policing mission shot down a drone that had entered Latvian airspace.
The latest Romanian incident comes as NATO members maintain heightened vigilance over their airspace, particularly along the alliance’s border with Ukraine.
