Russian drone incursion into Romanian airspace sees Falcons and Hornets scramble
Fighter jets were forced to scramble after the Romanian military identified a potential incursion by a Russian drone – one of several that are believed to have carried out a fatal attack on a town across the border in Ukraine.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defence said two F-16 Fighting Falcons and two Spanish F/A-18 Hornets were deployed after a drone was picked up on radar and was thought to have briefly breached Romanian airspace.
This apparently happened while a drone attack was ongoing on the neighbouring southern Ukrainian town of Izmail, just across the River Danube from Romania.
The Russian attack left three people dead and 14 injured.
Romanian defence officials said an alert was sent out about the approaching drones and the two Romanian F-16s were later joined by the two Spanish F/A-18s that were part of the Extended Air Police combat service, from the 57th Air Base at Mihail Kogălniceanu.
"During this time interval, Romania's radar surveillance system indicated the possibility that one of the drones involved in the attack on Ukrainian targets had crossed, around 3am, for a very short period of less than three minutes, the national airspace, in the border area with Ukraine," they explained.
The Romanian MOD condemned the Russian incursion across its border, which it believes was part of a series of drone attacks against civilian and port infrastructure targets.
It added: "The Ministry of National Defence sends a strong message of condemnation of these attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukrainian civilian objectives and infrastructure, which are unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law."
The aircraft involved in the incident were part of Nato's air policing mission to protect the alliance's airspace.
The Spanish air force had taken over the duties in Romania from the Royal Air Force in the summer.
Join Our Newsletter
