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A third drone has been shot down by Romanian forces in just three days, Romanian President Nicușor Dan has announced, adding to a string of drone-related incidents in the country.
In a statement on social media, Dan said a Romanian air force F-16 fighter jet had intercepted a drone over Romania’s territorial waters at around 10:13 am on Sunday morning. The incident reportedly occurred in the Sulina–Chilia area of the Danube Delta, close to the border with Ukraine.
“I would like to congratulate the Romanian pilots and ground crews on the professionalism, courage and efficiency with which they carry out their missions,” Dan wrote on X.
Romanian authorities reported that an F-16 shot down another unmanned aerial vehicle on Saturday morning, roughly 10 km west of the village of Sfântu Gheorghe in eastern Romania.
Two jets were scrambled to identify and intercept the target, and the drone was “safely shot down in an unpopulated area near the border,” the Romanian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
A third drone was shot down by a Romanian F-16 at around 11 am on Friday.
The Romanian Prosecutor General’s Office has determined that the drone intercepted on Friday was of the Shahed-type used by Russian forces in its war against Ukraine, Romanian officials have said.
While investigations into the drones shot down on Saturday and Sunday are still ongoing, Dan said it was “intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania’s airspace.”
“Such actions are unacceptable and we are treating them with the utmost seriousness, alongside our allies,” he added.
Romania’s growing drone problem
Situated on NATO’s eastern flank and on the shores of the Black Sea, Romania is particularly vulnerable to security challenges arising from Russia’s war against Ukraine, which began after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
Bucharest has seen a surge in drone-related incidents and incursions into Romanian airspace in recent months, prompting officials to pledge heightened security measures across the country.
In May, a Russian drone carrying explosives crashed into an apartment block in Galați, sparking a fire on the roof and injuring two people.
The following month, a Ukrainian sea drone also exploded in the Romanian port of Constanta. The Ukrainian military said it had veered off course as a result of Russian electronic warfare interference.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has labelled such incidents “a direct consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”