Bucharest (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Romania scrambled fighter jets early on Wednesday after a fresh drone incursion into its territory, during a Russian attack on Ukrainian infrastructure near the border, the defence ministry said.
The European Union and NATO member, Romania, has repeatedly witnessed violations of its airspace, including drone fragments falling onto its territory, following Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022.
How far did the Russian drone penetrate Romanian airspace?
According to a press release from the Romanian defence ministry, two German fighter jets deployed in the country monitored the airspace near the Ukraine border shortly after midnight following Russian air strikes.
Residents of southeastern Tulcea county received a phone alert, and for a few minutes, a drone signal was detected about eight kilometres into the national airspace before the drone vanished from radar.
The drone then
“reappeared intermittently on radar for approximately 12 minutes,”
the ministry stated, with an alert also being sent to residents in southeastern Galati county.
“Two more aircraft, F-16s of the Romanian Air Force, were scrambled,”
the ministry also said, saying that
“no cases of aircraft impact with the ground have been reported”.
“Teams of specialists are ready to begin ground searches,” it added.
Europe has been experiencing a significant surge in airspace violations by Russia in 2025.
How have previous Russian drone violations affected Romania’s response?
In a similar incident in September 2025, Romania flew fighter jets after a drone violated the country’s airspace during a Russian raid on neighbouring Ukraine, its Ministry of National Defence announced.
Romania’s Defence Ministry reported that it noticed the drone incursion and sent up two F-16 fighter jets and two Eurofighters. The ministry stated that the jets tracked the drone until it vanished from the radar near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche.
Minister of National Defence Ionut Mosteanu mentioned that the F-16 pilots nearly shot down the drone before it exited the country’s airspace. He also noted that helicopters would patrol the area near the border to search for possible drone parts.
How are Russian drone incursions increasing across Europe’s airspace?
The Russian fighter jets and drone incursions into European territory began in September 2025. The first major incident happened in Poland. Around September 9-10, about 20 Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace. NATO jets responded by intercepting and shooting down several of them.
This incident was soon followed by more Russian violations of airspace in other countries, including Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Romania.
