Third RO-Alert Issued in Tulcea After Unidentified Aerial Target Detected

Residents in northern Tulcea county, Romania, received a third emergency alert on Thursday evening after the Ministry of National Defence's radar detected an unidentified aerial target. The object was located approximately 33 kilometers north of Snake Island, a strategically sensitive area in the Black Sea.

This latest RO-Alert, issued at 6:44 PM, warned the population about the potential risk of falling objects from the airspace and advised them to remain calm and seek safe shelter for 90 minutes. The alert followed the radar detection at 6:27 PM. The Ministry of National Defence stated that two Spanish F-18 fighter jets, operating under NATO's enhanced air policing mission from the 57th Air Base Mihail Kogălniceanu, were scrambled at 6:41 PM to monitor the target.

The earlier alerts on Thursday, issued at 6:45 AM and 10:18 AM, were also related to monitoring activities near the Ukrainian border. In response to those morning detections, Spanish F-18s and a Romanian IAR-330 PUMA SOCAT helicopter were deployed. The repeated alerts and military responses underscore the heightened regional tensions and ongoing surveillance efforts in the Black Sea area.