Russian drone launched against Ukraine crashes in Romania, injuring two
KYIV: A Russian drone that was part of an overnight attack on Ukraine crashed into an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people, Romanian authorities said Friday.
In response to the crash in the city of Galati, NATO member Romania asked the alliance for a faster transfer of anti-drone capabilities to its military, the Foreign Ministry said, calling the drone’s flight a serious violation of international law.
Police and other agencies responded at the scene. Galati is on the Danube River, near the borders of Ukraine and Moldova.Ukrainian forces shot down 217 drones overnight on Friday according to the country’s air force. In total, Russia attacked with 232 drones and one ballistic missile. Hits were recorded in 14 areas, the air force said.
The drone was tracked by radar in Romanian airspace and crashed onto the roof of a building in Galati, Romania’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The impact was followed by a fire. Two people suffered minor injuries, and several others were evacuated.While Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on multiple occasions since the war started in 2022, including in Galati in April this year, no one has previously been hurt in any of the drone incidents.
In response to the latest incident, Romanian President Nicusor Dan convened the NATO member’s top defense body for a meeting on Friday to discuss the implications of what he called “the worst incident to hit the national territory” since Russia invaded Ukraine, and blamed Russia directly for the incident.We will have proportional measures in relation to the Russian Federation. … There is no ambiguity about the author and the cause of this assault,” he wrote in a post on Facebook. “The unprecedented character of the event imposes a firm, coordinated and measured response — at the national, allied and international level.”
Dan added that his thoughts are with the injured persons, families and residents “who experienced terrible moments in their own homes.”
The Romanian military scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a helicopter that were authorized to engage targets, and alert messages were sent to residents of the affected areas.Finnish President Alexander Stubb condemned the drone strike in Romania and wrote in a social media post that “Russia is crossing another line in its war of aggression against Ukraine.”Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the risk of such “serious incidents” was raised by “ Putin’s increasing nervousness, driven by military setbacks.”
“Russia is growing weaker on the battlefield in its war against Ukraine, yet it continues to pursue its objectives through brutal drone and missile attacks,” he said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday he was pressing the United States to provide more Patriot air defense missiles that can counter the Russian attacks.
He warned that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts and depletes
Stubb said, without elaborating, that “the situation is being discussed within the Alliance.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said the incident showed that Russia “has crossed yet another line.” She said the EU will keep strengthening security along its eastern border and was actively drafting another set of sanctions against Russia, the 21st so far.