The incident is assessed as significant. Russian drone attacks on Ukraine have violated NATO airspace over Romania. What happened?
Russian drone attacks on Ukraine violated NATO airspace over Romania during the night and triggered alarm takeoffs by German Eurofighters. According to information from the German Press Agency, Russian aircraft were identified by the German crews through visual contact, without NATO giving an order to shoot them down. The alliance said there was no evidence of a targeted attack by Russia against an ally.
Up to 70 Russian Shahed 136 drones were registered in the wave of attacks on targets in Ukraine, one of which, according to preliminary findings, also exploded over Romanian airspace.
Alarm start triggered at 10:02 p.m
According to this information, the attack was noticed from 9:42 p.m. German time and was monitored by a multinational command post for the command of NATO air forces (“Combined Air Operations Center”). Accordingly, the order for an alarm start (“Alpha Scramble”) was given at 10:02 p.m. and the armed fighter aircraft were in the air at 10:11 p.m. The incident is assessed as significant.
According to its own information, the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 41 of 42 Russian combat drones during the night, mostly over the Odessa region bordering Romania. The Romanian Defense Ministry reports a bomb crater 1.5 meters deep in the Danube Delta near the Romanian village of Grindu, 6.5 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. It was described as “possible” that it was a Russian drone.
Air force with four fighter aircraft
The Air Force is currently involved in securing NATO’s southeastern flank with four fighter aircraft and armed protection flights from the Romanian Mihail Kogălniceanu military airfield near Constanta. There have been several incidents of airspace violations on the Romanian side of the border with Ukraine. They were all related to Russian attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports. However, an analysis described as very precise has so far shown that these cases were not intentional on the Russian side.
NATO does not expect Russia to attack the alliance
NATO has no indication that the crashed drone was intended for a target in alliance territory. According to Romanian findings, Russia used the drone to attack the Ukrainian port infrastructure, alliance spokesman Dylan White told the German Press Agency in Brussels. He confirmed the alarm starts. Regarding Russia’s latest attack, the NATO spokesman said: “We strongly condemn Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and along the Danube.”
The NATO spokesman also confirmed that German fighter jets stationed in Romania began surveillance flights in response to Russia’s attack on targets in neighboring Ukraine. It was said that Romanian aircraft also completed so-called alarm takeoffs.
Romania summons Russian ambassador
After a drone crashed near the Ukrainian border in Romania, the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest announced that it would summon the Russian ambassador. Russia had “again violated Romania’s airspace, contrary to international law,” the ministry said in a statement.
The drone landed in an uninhabited area near the Romanian village of Grindu during a Russian attack on the Ukrainian port infrastructure on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the ministry said. Grindu is located on the Danube, 6.5 kilometers as the crow flies from the Ukrainian border.
Source: Stern
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