Romania scrambles fighter jets after drone enters airspace near Ukraine

A drone entered Romanian airspace early on August 20 after the country’s radar surveillance system detected a group of aerial targets near the border with Ukraine, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said.

The ministry said the targets were detected at 2:23 am, prompting two Spanish F-18 fighter jets and a Romanian IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter to take off to monitor the situation.

At 3:21 am, one drone entered Romanian airspace about 13 kilometres east of Galați. Three minutes later, the Romanian helicopter reported that the drone had crashed around four kilometres north-east of Grindu in Tulcea County, in an unpopulated area.

The impact sparked a fire that later extinguished itself. No casualties or material damage were reported.

Military personnel were sent to the crash site to secure the area, while an air-raid alert issued for residents ended at 3:52 am.

Earlier, a Spanish Air Force F-18 fighter jet stationed in Romania shot down a drone after it entered Romanian airspace from the direction of Moldova.

The drone was detected at 04:44 on the night of August 15-16, about 24km north of Galați. The F-18 tracked the target and received authorisation to engage it, shooting it down at 05:01 local time.

The drone’s debris fell in an uninhabited area between Băleni and Cudalbi in Galați County. The ministry said it would provide further details as they become available.

By Aghakazim Guliyev