Two Spanish F-18 fighter jets were launched after an aerial target was detected near Romania's border with Ukraine, Romanian authorities have confirmed. The Romanian Defence Ministry said the aircraft were scrambled at around 2am local time after the object was identified near the town of Isaccea on the Danube, which forms part of Romania's border with Ukraine.
Aircraft launched to monitor the situation
The aircraft, operating as part of NATO's air policing mission, were sent "to monitor the situation". Residents in northern Tulcea County were issued with an alert, although officials said there was no violation of Romanian airspace. The incident came during a night of extensive Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, according to The Mirror.
Night of Russian attacks on Ukraine
Putin ordered another wave of attacks on Ukraine last night, with local reports suggesting a Zircon anti-ship missile, two Iskander ballistic missiles and 152 drones were fired. Air-raid warnings rang out across the capital city of Kyiv, as well as several other Ukrainian regions, overnight, as air defences shot down 109 "aerial assets".
Recent incidents on NATO's eastern flank
This comes just 48 hours after two Spanish F-18 fighter jets were scrambled after an aerial target entered Romanian airspace. Radar surveillance detected an unidentified target manoeuvring near Chilia Vechem on Sunday, just to the east of Isaccea on the border. Another recent confrontation on NATO's eastern flank occurred when Romanian officials confirmed an aerial target briefly crossed into the country's airspace before disappearing.
Romania's defence ministry said two fighter jets tracked the object for "a few minutes" after it entered national airspace, before NATO forces lost contact. The development came days after NATO aircraft were scrambled over the Gulf of Finland to shadow a group of Russian military planes flying in international airspace. The formation reportedly included a Tu-134 transport aircraft, accompanied by MiG-31 and Su-30 fighter jets. The latest incidents are likely to add to concerns among NATO allies over growing Russian military activity around the alliance's borders, particularly in the Baltic region, where airspace violations and drone incursions have become increasingly frequent.
