Romania shoots down third Russian-made drone in three days near NATO's eastern flank
Romanian F-16s intercepted a drone near the port of Sulina on Sunday, the third such shootdown in three days after incursions Friday and Saturday. President Nicusor Dan called the repeated violations of Romanian, NATO and EU airspace intolerable. Sources: Newsweek, Romania Inside
Romania intercepted its third drone in three days on Sunday, when a Romanian F-16 shot down an unidentified aircraft close to the port of Sulina, inside Romanian territorial waters. It followed Friday's first-ever interception of a drone over Romania's own airspace, when Italian Eurofighter jets under NATO's Air Policing mission fired first and missed before a Romanian F-16 from the 86th Air Base finished the intercept near the village of Padina in Buzau county. The drone was tracked for more than an hour before it was engaged, and appeared to be a Shahed-type drone based on the pilots' observations. Saturday's drone was shot down in an unpopulated area near Romania's border with Ukraine. President Nicusor Dan said it was intolerable for Russia to keep violating Romanian, NATO and European Union airspace. Romania shares roughly 400 miles of border with Ukraine and has repeatedly reported drone incursions during Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports along the Danube. Source: Newsweek, Romania Insider.