Romania shoots down suspected Russian drone over Black Sea, third airspace breach in three days
A Romanian F-16 shot down a suspected Russian drone over the Black Sea on Sunday, the third airspace incursion in three days. Jets scrambled from Fetesti airbase under NATO command. President Nicusor Dan called the repeated violations 'inadmissible and intolerable.'
Romania shot down a suspected Russian drone over the Black Sea on Sunday, the third confirmed airspace incursion into the NATO and EU member's territory in three days. Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets scrambled from Fetesti airbase under NATO's operational command and intercepted the drone at 10:13 local time near the Sulina-Chilia area. Romania's Defense Ministry described it as a suspected Russian-made drone; an earlier incursion this week was confirmed by investigators to be a Shahed-type drone of the kind Russia has used against Ukraine throughout the war. Romania shares a 650-kilometer land border with Ukraine, and Russian drones have crossed into Romanian airspace repeatedly since the war began, but three incursions in three consecutive days marks an escalation. Romanian President Nicusor Dan said it is inadmissible and intolerable for Russia to continue violating airspace that is simultaneously Romanian, NATO and European Union territory. The pattern puts pressure on NATO's eastern-flank members to treat interception, rather than tracking and diplomatic protest, as the standard response to Russian drones crossing their borders, without any formal alliance-wide escalation being declared. Sources: Fortune, ABC News, Al Jazeera.