Romania Intercepts Foreign Drone in Airspace Amid NATO Security Concerns

Romania shot down a foreign drone in its airspace on Friday in the first interception of its kind, amid growing concern over UAVs straying into Nato territory.

An F-16 fighter jet shot down the drone near the town of Padina, in the east, at around 11am after it entered the country’s airspace, officials said, adding that an investigation was underway.

The Romanian army said the drone’s origin and purpose is yet to be identified, but chief of staff General Gheorghita Vlad said it appeared to be a Shahed - the Iran-designed attack drones used by Russia against Ukraine.

"Visually, the pilots reported the drone looked to be a Shahed type," he said, adding it was too soon to draw conclusions.

Earlier in the day an army source told Reuters: “There is an ongoing investigation to determine the origin of the drone. But in this part of the world it is Russia that is the attacker.”

The interception marked the first time that the Nato member state has shot down a drone within its airspace following dozens of such incursions.

Western officials have accused Russia for months of testing Nato’s reactions with limited incursions across the border. Russia has denied deliberately provoking Nato allies. Ukrainian drones have also been identified crossing into neighbouring countries.

Earlier this month, reports emerged claiming the US has already warned Poland that Russia could be planning an armed “provocation” to test Nato’s resolve.

The latest incursion in Romania intensifies concerns over the security of Nato's eastern flank, as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues.

The Romanian defence ministry said that the drone was picked up by radars at around 9.30am local time, around 12 miles east of Sulina on the Black Sea coast.

President Nicusor Dan said on social media that a Romanian pilot shot down the drone, adding: “The area was uninhabited, so the pilot was able to shoot without any risk.”

Fragments of the drone fell on a wheat field but caused no damage or injuries, the Buzau county prefect told reporters.

Romania, which shares a 650-km (400-mile) land border with Ukraine, has reported more than a dozen breaches of its airspace by Russian drones since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian ports across the Danube River following its full-scale invasion in 2022.

The ministry last month reported that Russian drones have breached Romania’s national airspace at least 15 times this year.

General Vlad said Russian attacks against Ukraine's Odessa region had increased ahead of the harvest season, further pressuring key energy and trade routes in the Black Sea.

In late May, a drone crashed into an apartment building in the town of Galati, near the Ukrainian border, injuring two people, the first time a strike had hit a densely populated area in a Nato country and caused injuries during the Ukraine war.

Nato accused Moscow of “reckless behaviour” following the incident and reiterated its commitment to defend “every inch of Allied territory”.

Nato countries have also reported increasing numbers of Ukrainian drones flying into their air space, leading to travel disruptions, closed airports and the scrambling of fighter jets.

Latvia’s government collapsed in May over its response to Ukrainian drones, meant for Russia, straying into Latvian territory.