Romanian army radars detected a possible violation of the country’s airspace during a nighttime attack by Russian drones on civilian infrastructure in neighboring Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
Romania, a NATO member, has been crucial to Ukraine since the suspension of the deal to export Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea in July. Suspected fragments of Russian drones have been discovered on Romanian territory three times this month, highlighting the risks to NATO, whose members owe each other mutual aid.
“The Romanian army’s radar surveillance system detected a possible unauthorized violation of national airspace, detecting a signal on the way to the city of Galati,” the defense ministry said, adding that search parties had been deployed.
“So far, no fallen object has been identified in the national territory. The search will continue today,” it said. Residents of Tulcea and Galati counties were alerted by telephone by authorities when drones heading to Ukraine were spotted near the border.
NATO and Bucharest officials said they had no evidence that the Russian strikes near the border constituted a deliberate attack on Romania, but called the attacks reckless and destabilizing.