NATO scrambled two Spanish F-18 fighter jets overnight after Romanian military radar detected an unidentified aerial target near the Romania-Ukraine border, amid a fresh wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine.
Radar detection and response
Romania's Ministry of National Defence said the radar surveillance system detected an aerial target moving east of Izmail, a Ukrainian port city on the Danube close to the Romanian frontier, on the night of September 29–30.
Two F-18 aircraft of the Spanish Air and Space Force, currently on Enhanced Air Policing combat duty, took off to monitor the situation, the ministry added.
Alert measures and all-clear
An RO-Alert message was issued at 12.35am after the National Military Command Center warned emergency services. Officials later confirmed no incursion into Romanian airspace, and the air alert ended at 1.10am.
Russia carried out further overnight strikes in Ukraine, using ballistic and anti-ship missiles as well as 188 attack drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The barrage began at around 6pm on Tuesday, with the Kyiv region the main target.
Wider strikes and prior incident
Ukrainian air defences said they had destroyed or neutralised 160 aerial targets by 8am the following morning. Eighteen locations across Ukraine were targeted, with several drones still reported to be in Ukrainian airspace as operations continued.
Another aerial target was picked up on radar near Romania's border with Ukraine on the night of September 28 to 29, operating north of Isaccea near the river border. NATO again scrambled two Spanish F-18s on Enhanced Air Policing duty to monitor the situation.
