BUCHAREST, Sept 27 (Askume) – A Russian drone may have violated NATO member Romania’s airspace for “less than three minutes” during an overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine, Romania’s defence ministry said on Friday.
Three people were killed and 14 others injured in a drone attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Izmail, across the Danube River from Romania, the Odessa district prosecutor said on Friday . The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 24 of the 32 drones.
“The Romanian radar system detected that a drone involved in the attack on Ukraine may have passed through Romanian airspace in the border area for less than three minutes,” Romania’s Foreign Ministry said.
Romania has sent two F-16 fighter jets and two Spanish F-18 aircraft to conduct aerial surveillance missions over the country for the rest of the year. Residents of Tulcea County in southeastern Romania have been warned to evacuate.
Romania shares a 650 km (400 mile) border with Ukraine. Romania’s defence ministry said debris from Russian drones had fallen on its territory several times over the past year , most of which were destroyed by Ukrainian air defence systems.
However, on September 8 Russian drones entered the airspace over Romania and Latvia, raising concerns of an escalation of tensions.
This month defense ministers from countries on NATO’s eastern flank called for a stronger coordinated response from the alliance to drone airspace violations , including the implementation of a rotating integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) model.
