Romania Reports Over 100 Russian Attacks Near Border, Dozens of Drone Incursions

Romania's Ministry of National Defense (MApN) has confirmed that Russian drone activity has repeatedly violated its airspace since the start of the conflict in neighboring Ukraine. The ministry stated that over 100 Russian attacks have been registered in Ukrainian territory near Romania's border since the war began.

According to the MApN, Russian drones have entered Romanian airspace on 33 separate occasions, with the most recent incursion occurring on Sunday, July 26. Additionally, fragments or entire drones have been discovered on Romanian territory in approximately 50 instances. This year alone, over 40 attacks have occurred near Romania's border, prompting Romanian Air Force fighter jets to be scrambled 34 times. Unauthorized drone intrusions into national airspace were recorded 18 times this year.

The latest incident involved a Romanian F-16 fighter jet shooting down a drone that was flying unauthorized over the country's territorial waters near Sulina-Chilia at 10:13 AM on Sunday. This marks the third consecutive day that Romanian military forces have downed a drone entering their airspace. A Romanian F-16 intercepted and downed a drone near Sfântu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta on Saturday, and on Friday, military personnel shot down a drone that had entered national airspace, causing it to crash in a field in Buzău.

In three instances, drones that entered Romanian airspace without authorization were shot down by F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Forces, the latest occurring on July 26. The MApN reiterated that drone fragments or entire drones have been identified on Romanian territory in 16 situations.