Romania has shot down a third Russian drone over its airspace, with the government labelling the incursion “intolerable”. The country’s defence ministry said its forces “safely shot down” a drone that breached its air space in an “unpopulated area” near the Ukrainian border. The drone was “shot down by a Romanian pilot from an F-16 aircraft,” President Nicușor Dan said. Mr Dan labelled the latest breach “inadmissible and intolerable” whilst NATO said the incident is under investigation.
Recent Incursions
Saturday’s interception came after a drone was shot down around Padina, north east of the Romanian capital Bucharest, on Friday. A series of drone incursions by Russia and Ukraine have hit Romania and other NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The country shares a 400-mile border with Ukraine.
In June, a Ukrainian maritime drone exploded at the Black Sea port of Constanta, while three other sea drones exploded outside the port. No one was hurt. In May, a Russian drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine went astray and struck an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people.
Zelensky Warns of Imminent Attack
The latest incursions come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing missiles for a large attack, saying there were indications that this could happen in the next 48 hours. He said: “Since June, preparations have been under way in Russia’s Voronezh region to receive them.”
Strikes in Ukraine
Sumy regional head Oleh Hryhorov said on Saturday that three people were killed when a large fire broke out after a Russian drone struck a “civilian facility”, adding that the victims were drivers for private Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta. Russia’s defence ministry said it attacked a “storage and launch site” for Ukrainian drones in the Sumy region.
In Zaporizhzhia, in south-eastern Ukraine, a Russian drone attack late on Friday hit a shopping centre, causing a fire that spread over a 500-square-metre area and injuring several people, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. A major Russian attack on Friday on a site hosting a defence industry event near Kyiv killed at least 10 people and wounded nearly 100 others.
