Bucharest (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Romania sent out fighter jets to track drones which violated its territory near the border with Ukraine early on Tuesday, and one was still moving deeper into the airspace, the defence ministry said.
In recent months, tensions have increased along the eastern flank of Europe as a result of suspected Russian drones entering the airspace of multiple NATO nations.
How did Romanian jets respond to the latest breach?
According to the Romanian defence ministry, two Eurofighters that were part of German air-policing missions in Romania were first dispatched to track a drone in the southeastern county of Tulcea before it re-entered Ukraine.
Russian drones may have entered Romania, according to earlier reports from the Ukrainian Air Force.
Later, when radar revealed a second airspace breach in the county of Galati, the army scrambled two Romanian F-16 fighter jets. According to the ministry, the aircraft followed it as it moved inland toward the county of Vrancea. All three counties’ residents were advised to seek shelter.
Although it hasn’t used it yet, Romania has laws in place that allow it to shoot down drones during times of peace if people or property are in danger.
When did a similar drone incursion happen previously in Romania?
The EU and NATO nations share a land border with Ukraine and have had drones breach their airspace and fragments fall onto their territory repeatedly since Russia started attacking Kyiv’s ports across the Danube.
In a similar incident last week, during a Russian attack on Ukrainian infrastructure close to the border, Romania scrambled fighter jets in response to a drone incursion into its territory.
Shortly after midnight, two German fighter jets stationed in Romania monitored the airspace close to the Ukrainian border after Russian airstrikes, according to a press release from the country’s defence ministry.
A drone signal was detected approximately eight kilometres into the national airspace for a few minutes before the drone disappeared from radar, prompting residents of southeast Tulcea County to receive a phone alert.
According to the ministry, the drone then
“reappeared intermittently on radar for approximately 12 minutes,”
and residents in southeast Galati County were also notified. The ministry added that
“no cases of aircraft impact with the ground have been reported”
and that
“two more aircraft, F-16s of the Romanian Air Force, were scrambled.”
