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NATO fighter jet shoots down suspected Russian drone over Romania

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement Context piece
  • A NATO F-18 fighter jet shot down a drone that illegally entered Romanian airspace.
  • The drone is suspected to be Russian, and it entered Romanian airspace from Moldova.
  • This is the fourth drone shot down over Romania this year, with previous incidents involving Russian drones.

A NATO F-18 fighter jet intercepted and shot down a drone that illegally breached Romanian national airspace on Sunday. The incident occurred while the jet was on a NATO air policing mission. This marks the fourth unmanned aircraft to be downed over Romania this year.

While the drone's origin is under investigation, NATO spokesperson US Army Colonel Martin O'Donnell stated that "Additional details regarding Sunday’s incident remain under investigation, but the drone appears to be Russian." The Romanian Defense Ministry reported that the drone was detected by radar entering the country from neighboring Moldova, approximately 24 km north of the southeastern Romanian city of Galati.

Additional details regarding Sunday’s incident remain under investigation, but the drone appears to be Russian.

— US Army Colonel Martin O'DonnellA spokesperson for NATO's military headquarters, commenting on the suspected origin of the downed drone.

The F-18 jet, part of a Spanish NATO contingent stationed in Romania, received permission to engage the target and shot down the drone at 5:01 a.m. local time. Fragments from the destroyed drone reportedly fell in an uninhabited area. In July, Romanian F-16 pilots shot down three Russian drones that breached national airspace, following numerous incursions since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine. In May, a Russian drone crashed into an apartment block in Galati, injuring two people.

made radar contact with the target and received permission to engage

— Romanian Defense MinistryDescribing the actions taken by the F-18 jet before shooting down the drone.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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