Romania shot down a Russian drone over the Black Sea on Sunday, marking the third such interception in as many days, as President Nicusor Dan condemned the repeated incursions into the NATO member's airspace as "inadmissible and intolerable" and the government summoned Russia's ambassador in protest. The Romanian defence ministry said an F-16 fighter jet brought down the drone safely over territorial waters, about 12 kilometres northeast of the coastal town of Sulina. The latest incident follows two similar interceptions on Friday and Saturday, reflecting an escalation in airspace violations linked to Russia's intensifying attacks on Ukrainian ports along the Danube River.
Romania, which shares a 650-kilometre border with Ukraine, has reported repeated Russian drone incursions during the more than four-year war. Until Friday, however, Romanian forces had not destroyed any of the aircraft, despite dozens of previous violations. "It is inadmissible and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania's airspace, which is, at the same time, NATO airspace and European Union airspace," President Dan said in a post on X.
"Such actions are unacceptable, and we treat them with the utmost seriousness, alongside our allies." The president said the drone shot down on Friday had been identified as a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle commonly used by Russian forces, while investigations were continuing to determine the type of drones intercepted on Saturday and Sunday. Romania's foreign ministry said it had summoned the Russian ambassador over the repeated breaches, while Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan described the incidents as "unacceptable". Defence Minister Radu Miruta said Romania would continue to defend its sovereignty and airspace but stressed that the provocations must stop.
The defence ministry said Russian drones had entered Romanian airspace without authorisation 33 times since the start of the war in Ukraine, including Sunday's incident. NATO said further details of Sunday's incident were still being investigated.
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