Another drone likely fell and exploded on Romanian soil following an overnight Russian drone strike against Ukraine's Danube ports, the Romanian Defense Ministry reported on Oct. 12.
A crater left behind by the drone's explosion was found at around 5 a.m. on Oct. 12, roughly three kilometers west of the town of Plauru, which lies just across the Danube River from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, the ministry said.
Russian forces launched a wave of Shahed-type drones against Odesa Oblast overnight, targeting port infrastructure in Izmail. Governor Oleh Kiper reported that the attack injured one person and caused damage to the port and houses in the Izmail district.
The Romanian Defense Ministry said that appropriate steps were taken to secure the area of the impact, and the investigation of the incident is ongoing.
"The Defense Ministry strongly condemns the attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against civilian infrastructure facilities in the Ukrainian ports on the Danube River," the ministry said in its press release.
This is not the first time the Romanian authorities have found fragments of what are presumably Russian drones destroyed in strikes against Ukraine.
Russia has escalated its attacks against Ukrainian port infrastructure following its unilateral termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, targeting Ukraine's river ports Izmail and Reni near the Romanian border.
Bucharest reported the discovery of suspected Russian drones on Romanian soil in three separate incidents in September.
Romania has introduced new security measures to protect the civilian population near the Danube River. This included the construction of air raid shelters in high-risk areas and the strengthening of air defenses near the border.
