Romania finds new Russian drone debris on its territory

Romania's military found the debris of yet another drone "similar to those used by the Russian army" on Sept. 9 near Plauru, a village close to the Ukrainian border, Romania's Ministry of Defense reported.

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis condemned the incident "caused by the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian ports on the Danube. "

"The identification today by the Romanian authorities (...) of new fragments of a drone, similar to those used by the Russian army, indicates that there has been an absolutely unacceptable violation of the sovereign airspace of Romania, a NATO member state," Iohannis said.

"These deeply unjustified attacks violate the norms of international law and constitute war crimes," he said.

Romania will introduce new security measures to protect the civilian population near the Danube River in response to Russian strikes against Ukrainian ports, based on a document issued on Sept. 7 by Romania's National Committee for Emergency Situations.

These steps will include identifying areas where drones might fall, issuing warnings through the Ro-Alert emergency system, and building shelters in settlements on the Romanian side of the Danube River, namely in Plauru and Ceatalchioi.

The authorities will also select existing structures that can be used as shelters and will instruct the population in the area on what to do in dangerous situations.

After Moscow's unilateral termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian ports on the Danube River located near the Romanian border.

Following a drone attack overnight on Sept. 4, Ukraine said that some unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) had fallen and detonated on Romanian soil.

Bucharest initially denied the report, only to change their statement on Sept. 6, when Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar confirmed that what appears to be drone fragments had been found on Romania's side of the Danube River.

According to NATO, there was no indication that the fragments were a result of a deliberate Russian attack against Romania.