Romania scrambles fighter jets over Russian drone attack on Ukraine, reporting potential UAV crash

Friday, 17 January 2025

Romania scrambled its fighter jets because of a Russian drone attack on Ukrainian settlements along the Danube River on the night of 16-17 January. One of the drones may have crashed on the Romanian coast. 

As reported by Digi24, a Romanian TV channel, an air-raid warning was issued for residents of Romanian villages along the Danube River at 01:46, and explosions were heard from the Ukrainian side. 

The Ministry of Defence of Romania later reported that it had scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to be ready to respond to a potential threat. The jets returned to the base about two hours later. 

Кадр з репортажу Digi24
Explosion in Ukraine that was seen from Romania. Screenshot: Digi24

The ministry also reported that a "possible drone crash scene" had been discovered near the village of Plauru, opposite the Ukrainian city of Izmail. Experts are working at the scene to collect evidence for further investigation.

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"The Ministry of National Defence sends a strong message of condemnation of these Russian attacks on civilian targets and infrastructure in Ukraine, which are unjustified and seriously contradict international law," the Ministry of Defence noted, adding that it had informed NATO about the incident. 

This is only the latest in a series of similar incidents over the years of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

On 29 September 2024, NATO began additional surveillance of Romanian airspace by deploying an additional Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.

Russian UAVs have repeatedly flown into the territory of Moldova. Also, in early September 2024, a Russian Shahed drone flew into Latvia for the first time through Belarus and crashed there.

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