Romania downs suspected Russian drone after third airspace breach in three days

Bucharest,UPDATED: Jul 26, 2026 23:44 IST

Romania on Sunday shot down a suspected Russian drone after it entered the country's airspace, marking the third such incursion in three days in the Eastern European nation, which is a member of both the European Union and NATO. Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets, operating under NATO command, were scrambled from the Fetesti airbase and brought down the drone over the Black Sea, the alliance said.

President Nicusor Dan said the drone was shot down at 10.13 am over Romania's territorial waters in the Sulina-Chilia area. He also said one of the drones intercepted earlier appeared to be "a Shahed type, used by the Russian Federation in the war of aggression against Ukraine".

Col. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesperson for NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, said this was the fourth recent time Romania had downed a drone that violated NATO airspace in coordination with the alliance. Before the last three interceptions, Romanian jets had shot down a drone over Estonia in May, he said. Romanian pilots and aircraft are based in Lithuania, from where they are part of NATO's force posture.

"As we continue to prove, NATO is constantly on the watch and prepared to defend itself from any threat," O'Donnell said.

Romania has acquired the MEROPS counter-drone system, which uses relatively cheap, three-foot-long drones to bring down incoming Shahed and other variants. The system is part of wider efforts across NATO's long eastern border to strengthen defences against drone threats.

In May, a Russian drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine went off course and hit an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people and raising fears that the war could spill into alliance territory.

"It is inadmissible and intolerable that the Russian Federation continues to violate Romanian airspace, which is also NATO and European Union airspace," President Dan said. "Such actions are unacceptable and we treat them with all seriousness, together with our allies." Belgium, another NATO and EU member, said Sunday's incursion was a "stark reminder of the ongoing threat Russia's war poses to European security". Foreign Minister Maxime Prvot said, "Belgium stands firmly with Romania after several drones were shot down over its territory in the past days. Romania's investigation has already confirmed that one of them was a Russian Shahed drone," adding that 300 Belgian troops are based in Romania as part of NATO's eastern flank force.

The latest incident comes amid a series of drone incursions involving Russia and Ukraine that have affected Romania and other NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, underlining the repeated pressure on the alliance's eastern border.

With PTI Inputs

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