Romanian and German NATO fighter jets were scrambled near Romania’s border with Ukraine to respond to a drone incursion that penetrated deeper than ever into Romanian airspace, in what Bucharest calls a Russian provocation.
Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu says the NATO pilots came close to shooting down a drone that had repeatedly entered the alliance member country’s airspace, but held off over concern about causing damage on the ground.
Drone fragments without an explosive charge were later found on Romanian territory.
“We are dealing with a new Russian provocation against Romania, a drone that the Romanian army and German Eurofighters have tried to shoot down,” Mosteanu says.
Russian drones had struck Ukrainian ports overnight near the border with Romania, which lies across the Danube River.
Tuesday’s breach was the 13th that Romania has reported into its airspace since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In addition to being the deepest, it was also the first to take place during daylight rather than at night.
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