Romanian F-16 fighter jets shot down two drones over Romania's territorial waters in the Black Sea on Saturday, the defence ministry said, minutes after each drone entered Romanian airspace near the Sulina Canal. The first drone entered at 1459 GMT and the second at 1501 GMT, according to the ministry, which did not specify the origin of either drone. No casualties or damage on the ground were reported.
What happened over the Black Sea on Saturday?
Two drones were destroyed by Romanian military pilots shortly after crossing into Romanian airspace over the Black Sea, about 20 kilometres (13 miles) southeast of Sulina, Deutsche Welle reported. "Two drones were engaged and shot down a few minutes ago by Romanian military pilots over the Black Sea, moments after they had illegally entered our country," Defence Minister Radu Miruta wrote on Facebook. The first drone entered national airspace at 17:59 local time (1459 GMT) and was shot down within two minutes, Miruta said; the second was shot down at 18:05 local time, minutes after it entered. Reuters reported, citing the defence ministry, that the two drones entered Romanian waters at 1459 GMT and 1501 GMT respectively, and that the ministry did not specify their origin. Foreign Minister Oana Toiu wrote on X that NATO would discuss the issue at a North Atlantic Council meeting on Tuesday, adding: "The Black Sea will be safe again."
Why does it matter?
The shootdowns are the latest escalation in a pattern of airspace violations and attacks on shipping that has drawn NATO's eastern flank directly into the spillover of Russia's war on Ukraine. Romania, a NATO and EU member, shares a 614-kilometre (381-mile) border with Ukraine, much of it along the Danube, and has repeatedly reported Russian drone incursions into its airspace since Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022, Reuters reported; Romania began shooting down such drones earlier this year. Saturday's interceptions came days after two chemical tankers were hit by drones near Romania's Black Sea coast, the latest in a series of attacks highlighting risks to commercial shipping on NATO's eastern flank. Both vessels were anchored near the Sulina Canal, which links the Danube River to the Black Sea and is an export route for Ukraine. A NATO military source told Reuters the two tankers were hit by Russian drones, and Romanian officials are still searching for seven missing crew members. At least five other cargo ships have been hit near the coasts of Romania and neighbouring Bulgaria in the past 10 days, with 23 sailors reported dead or missing, most of those incidents outside NATO territorial waters, Reuters reported. In Moldova, on Romania's northeast border, officials said a new drone had crashed in a northern district near the border with Ukraine on Saturday, with no casualties or damage, and specialists were trying to determine its origin; five drones identified as Russian fell on Moldovan territory in a little more than 17 hours on Thursday and Friday, prompting Moldova's foreign ministry to denounce Russian actions, Reuters reported.
Attribution note: the times, locations and interception details are those of Romania's defence ministry and Defence Minister Radu Miruta, as reported by Reuters and Deutsche Welle. The defence ministry did not specify the origin of the two drones shot down on Saturday, and no party has claimed them; the identification of the tankers struck earlier this week as hit by Russian drones is a NATO military source's account given to Reuters.
