Romania says drone incident does not amount to attack on NATO territory

Romania’s Ministry of Defence claims that the Russian drone that hit a residential building was a coincidence, and that the intended targets were Ukrainian ports.

“The situation is under control. We are not facing an attack on Romania; we are dealing with the consequences of a conflict taking place in the immediate vicinity of our border. Unfortunately — with direct consequences for the population of the area,” said Deputy Commander of the Romanian Armed Forces Joint Command, General Gheorghe Maxim.

According to the military, around 50 strike drones were involved in the operation, with targets including the ports of Reni, Orlivka, Kilia, and Vylkove. One of the drones, which disappeared from radar after entering Romanian airspace, flew about 10 kilometres inside the country and caused damage to a residential building.

The general also said that consultations under Article 4 of the NATO Treaty are being considered, but the final decision will be made at the political level.

He noted that pilots had orders to destroy UAVs, but the decision to use weapons is based on a “strict risk management assessment.”

“The possible destruction of a target over an urban area poses significant risks to the safety of the population and infrastructure. In many situations, debris resulting from the destruction of an aerial object can cause consequences comparable to or even more severe than the impact of the drone itself, about which we did not at that moment have information — whether it was carrying a combat payload or was a decoy drone,” the general told journalists. “The time we had available — four minutes — was extremely short.”

One of the reasons for not engaging the drone was the risk of munitions falling onto the territory of a neighbouring state, the general added.

“Two people were injured; fortunately, the injuries were minor, but they were taken to hospital for further medical examinations. At the same time, two other people required medical assistance on site — they were not injured but experienced panic attacks,” the general said.

The Deputy Commander of the Romanian Armed Forces Joint Command also responded to a question about what would have happened if the drone had not hit the elevator shaft, leaving a one-and-a-half-metre hole, but had struck two to four floors lower.

“The warhead of the Geran-2 ranges from 2 kg to 40–50 kg. It is likely that at least one apartment would have been destroyed. That is, there would have been many more casualties,” General Maxim said.