Romania has confirmed drone fragments on several occasions since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
NATO members Latvia and Romania, allies of Ukraine, have said Russian drones violated their airspace.
Romania said a Russian drone entered its airspace during overnight attacks across the Danube River in neighboring Ukraine in the early hours of Sunday, while Latvia said one crashed in the eastern part of the country a day earlier.
Romania's National Defense Ministry said Bucharest had deployed F-16 fighter jets to monitor its airspace and that a search was underway for debris from the weapon at a possible crash site near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Bucharest strongly condemned the “new violation” caused by Moscow’s “illegal attacks”.
Meanwhile, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said a Russian military drone crashed in the eastern part of his territory.
The Defense Ministry said the drone had flown into the country's airspace from Belarus and crashed near Rezekne, a town of about 25,000 people about 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of Russia and 75 kilometers (47 miles) from Belarus, a close Kremlin ally.
While the incursion into Latvian airspace appeared to be a rare incident, Romania has confirmed drone fragments over its territory on several occasions since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Romania shares a 650-kilometer (400-mile) border with Ukraine.
Mircea Geoana, outgoing NATO deputy secretary general and a former senior diplomat of Romania, said the military alliance condemned Russia’s violation of Romanian airspace. “While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” he wrote on social media platform X.
Russia has carried out repeated nightly attacks on cities across Ukraine, often targeting its Danube River ports, which are just a few hundred metres from Romania.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the violations of Romanian and Latvian airspace, calling them “a stark reminder that Russia's aggressive actions extend beyond Ukraine.”
He added on Day X that Ukraine needed concrete actions from its allies.
“It is a courageous and collective decision to use partners’ air defence to intercept Russian missiles and drones over Ukraine. It is necessary to provide stronger and faster military assistance to Ukrainian soldiers. It is necessary to lift restrictions on the use of weapons by Ukraine. We must act now,” he said.
Poland has also recorded at least two cases of its airspace being violated by Russian missiles or drones attacking Ukraine, most recently in December.
Romanian lawmakers plan to consider in their current session a bill that would allow Romania to shoot down drones that invade the country's airspace in peacetime.
