The Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Friday that an incident involving a Russian drone that struck an apartment building in a Romanian city is a “grave and irresponsible escalation from Russia.”
“Romania has informed allies and NATO’s secretary-general about the circumstances and requested measures to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania,” the ministry said.
NATO said it would strengthen its defenses against all threats, including drones, after a drone crashed onto the roof of a 10-story block of flats in the southeastern Romanian city of Galati during a Russian overnight attack on neighboring Ukraine.
“We condemn Russia’s recklessness, and NATO will continue to strengthen our defenses against all threats, including drones,” a NATO spokesperson said in a post on X/Twitter.
The drone crashed onto the roof of a 10-story block of flats in the southeastern city of Galati during a Russian overnight attack on neighboring Ukraine on Friday, causing an explosion and a fire that injured two people, Romanian authorities said.
Romania, a member of both NATO and the European Union, shares a 650-km (400-mile) land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones breach its airspace 28 times since Moscow began attacking Kyiv’s ports across the Danube river, Romania’s Defense Ministry said on Friday.
Friday’s incident was the first time a drone had hit a densely populated area in Romania and caused injuries, and was likely to increase tensions on NATO’s eastern flank at a time when Ukraine’s allies are worried about the war spilling over its borders.
Drone fragments have fallen in Romania at least 47 times, defense ministry says
The ministry added it had recovered drone fragments that fell in Romania 47 times.
Romania’s emergency response agency said on Friday a fire broke out in a 10th floor apartment after the drone struck the building’s roof and exploded. Two people were receiving medical treatment on site, it said, adding 70 people had evacuated.
It said the drone’s entire explosive payload detonated. The fire has since been extinguished.
State news agency Agerpres cited Galati’s emergency response agency saying a woman and her child had been taken to hospital with minor injuries while two others had been treated on site for panic attacks.
Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat, who is in charge of the emergency response agency, told private broadcaster Digi24 the drone affected two building stairwells and damaged five cars.
In a separate incident, a drone without an explosive charge was found around Basesti in Maramures county in northwestern Romania and the area was secured, state TVR broadcaster said late on Thursday, citing local authorities.
The authorities were investigating the origin of the drone, which the report said had a wingspan of about 3 meters (9.84 feet), and how it happened to be in the area, TVR added.
Local authorities in southern Ukraine, meanwhile, said the Izmail port in the Odesa region came under attack from several drones in the early hours of Friday morning.
Izmail, close to the Romanian border, is home to the largest Ukrainian port on the Danube River and is a frequently targeted strategic location.
Drone previously caused damage in Galati, Romania
Galati was hit previously in April when a drone damaged an electricity pole and a household annex, and officials temporarily evacuated people nearby. They retrieved the drone to detonate its unexploded payload at a remote location.
On Friday, the defense ministry said it scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a military helicopter to monitor the attack, adding the pilots were authorized to shoot down any drones. The residents of the border counties of Braila, Galati, and Tulcea were warned to take cover.
Romanian law allows it to shoot down drones during peacetime if lives or property are at risk, but it has not yet done so.
Ukrainian drones have strayed into Baltic countries’ airspace in recent weeks, sowing confusion and raising tensions with Russia.
