An undetected drone crashed three miles from Romania’s border with Ukraine, Bucharest’s defence ministry said. There are no reports of casualties or damage following the incident which was confirmed by the Romanian government hours after a NATO jet shot down a drone over Latvia.
Drone crash details
Bucharest did not specify the origin or type of drone but said it landed in a wooded area near the south-eastern village of Luncavita. Romania’s defence ministry said the drone was not detected by radar because it was “flying at a very low altitude”. A military helicopter team is surveying the crash site, the NATO ally added.
Regional context
Drones have frequently strayed into Romanian airspace in the region which is separated from Ukraine by the River Danube. Russian forces repeatedly target Ukrainian infrastructure, including port facilities, in the southern Odesa Oblast in a bid to cripple Kyiv’s crucial sea-based exports.
The incident is the latest in a growing number of drone incursions into alliance airspace along its eastern flank. As well as Romania, Poland and the Baltic States have all frequently reported airspace violations relating to the war in Ukraine. While neighbouring Moldova — which is not a NATO member — has also seen a series of drone crashes on its territory in recent weeks.
Latvia drone downing
Latvia said the drone shot down over its airspace on Friday was misdirected "as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare". "As long as Russia's aggression in Ukraine continues, a recurrence of cases where foreign drones enter or approach Latvian airspace is possible," Riga’s military warned.
Italian and Turkish fighter jets stationed in Latvia as part of a NATO policing mission were scrambled in response to the “foreign” drone in the early hours of Friday. The UAV was then downed by an Italian Eurofighter over an "unpopulated area” in Latvia’s eastern Balvi region. Latvia has deployed extra air defence units to its eastern borders.
