EditNATO jet shoots down drone over Romania as airspace incursions mount
Spanish F-18 destroys unidentified drone near Moldova border, while Bulgaria awaits Ukrainian answers over another drone incident
A Spanish F-18 fighter operating on a NATO air-policing mission shot down a drone that had illegally entered Romanian airspace on Sunday, Romania’s defence ministry said, in the fourth such unmanned aircraft destroyed over the country this year.
The drone was detected by radar after entering Romanian territory from neighbouring Moldova, around 24 kilometres north of the southeastern city of Galați. Its origin has not been officially confirmed by Romanian authorities, although NATO said the aircraft appeared to be Russian.
The incident comes amid a growing number of drone incursions along NATO’s eastern flank, as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to spill over into neighbouring countries.
Two Spanish F-18s deployed in Romania for a NATO mission were already on alert as a precaution when the drone was detected. According to Defence Minister Radu Miruța, the aircraft received authorisation to intervene at 04:44 local time.
The Romanian defence ministry said the F-18 established radar contact with the target and was authorised to engage. The drone was destroyed at 05:01. Fragments appeared to have fallen in an uninhabited area between the villages of Baleni and Cudalbi.
NATO’s military headquarters said the alliance remained prepared to respond to threats to allied territory.
“Additional details regarding Sunday’s incident remain under investigation, but the drone appears to be Russian,” U.S. Army Colonel Martin O’Donnell, a spokesperson for NATO’s military headquarters, said.
Romania shares a 614-kilometre land border with Ukraine and has recorded repeated breaches of its airspace by Russian drones since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The country has also reported mines drifting into the Black Sea, affecting important trade and energy routes.
Miruta said the incident demonstrated that Romania was defending its airspace with the backing of its allies. He described NATO solidarity, vigilance and the ability to respond rapidly as a tangible security guarantee.
He also stressed Romania’s position on what he described as the front line of the European Union’s defence, given the country’s long border with Ukraine.
A growing pattern of incidents
Sunday’s incident follows a series of similar episodes in Romania and elsewhere on NATO’s eastern flank.
Last Thursday, two Spanish F-18s took off from the Mihail Kogălniceanu base after an airborne object was detected near the border with Ukraine. The drone remained in Romanian airspace for around 12 minutes before returning to Ukraine, prompting the authorities to send an SMS alert to residents of Tulcea county.
The following day, another drone crashed in Romania after crossing the country’s airspace undetected by radar because it was flying at very low altitude. At the same time, tensions were also rising in the Baltic region, where allied fighter jets shot down another drone over Latvia.
In July, Romanian F-16 pilots shot down three Russian drones that had breached national airspace, marking the first time Romania had used its fighter jets to destroy such aircraft after dozens of previous incursions.
The most serious recent incident occurred on 29 May, when a Russian drone struck a residential block in Galati, starting a fire and injuring two people. NATO described the incident at the time as an irresponsible escalation by Russia.
In May, a Russian drone also crashed into an apartment block in Galati during an overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine, injuring two people.
The latest Romanian incident also followed another night of attacks between Russia and Ukraine. Russian bombardments caused large fires in Kyiv and injured at least two people, while Moscow said it had been targeted by more than 600 drones launched by Kyiv, with three people wounded on Russian territory.
Bulgaria awaits answers over drone that fell near Romanian border
The developments in Romania come as Bulgaria is still waiting for answers from Ukraine over a separate drone incident last Saturday.
On Friday, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Bulgaria had not yet received answers from Ukraine regarding the drone that fell in the country near the Romanian border.
A drone intruded in Bulgaria and exploded near the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline
Asked how he explained the absence of a response, Radev said: “It was right that we should have received answers by now. And this raises a number of questions.”
Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, who was with Radev in Pleven, said the North Atlantic Council had assessed on Wednesday that the Bulgarian government had acted “exactly and correctly”.
“An answer from Ukraine has not yet arrived, but I hope we receive one as soon as possible. This will provide objective data,” Stoyanov said.
He added that the Ukrainian side had said it had not deliberately sent a drone towards Bulgaria. “Nobody in Bulgaria has claimed the opposite,” he said, while pointing to several possible explanations, including an effect on the GPS system or a failure of the control system.
The Bulgarian Interior Ministry’s examination of the drone has not yet been completed, according to Stoyanov. The case is now under the jurisdiction of the military prosecutor’s office, while authorities have so far been unable to extract information about the drone’s route coordinates.
Bulgaria has also dealt with several other potentially dangerous objects along its Black Sea coast. On Friday, naval teams investigated three separate reports.
A team from Varna examined a drifting object found 50 metres from the shore near Tyulenovo. Specialists from the Burgas naval base inspected a drone washed ashore at Primorsko and classified it as a reconnaissance drone. Military personnel also responded to a report of drone parts found on the beach near Lozenets.
At the end of last month, another drifting drone was destroyed east of Ahtopol.
Lately Bulgaria has adopted a more cautious position on military support for Ukraine under Prime Minister Rumen Radev, a politician known for his pro-Russian views and long-standing opposition to arming Kyiv.
In June, Bulgaria stopped providing military aid to Ukraine from its army stocks, with Radev saying the country had exhausted what it could provide without undermining its own defence capabilities. The decision did not affect Bulgaria’s arms industry, which continues to produce and commercially export ammunition, some of it destined for Ukraine.
In July, Bulgaria did not take part in a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” in Paris. Radev said that “Bulgaria’s place is not in the coalition of the willing”, arguing that the war should be brought to an end through diplomatic efforts rather than continued military support.
Sorces: Reuters, Euronews, BGNES
Caption: A Romanian Navy officer from the ‘King Ferdinand’ frigate uses binoculars to scan the sea for potential targets during a rehearsal of the FNR 26.10 joint naval exercise on the Black Sea, off the coast of Constanta, Romania, 14 August 2026. The naval exercise is a joint tactical demonstration organized by the Romanian Naval Forces to mark Romanian Navy Day, celebrated annually on 15 August. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT
Updated: August 17, 2026 - 06:20
