Romania says drone breached its airspace during Russia's attack on Ukraine
An unidentified flying object was detected by Romanian radar systems near the Black Sea during Russia's overnight attack on Ukraine on Oct. 19, the Romanian Defense Ministry said.
It is the second time this week that Romanian airspace has been violated, following the incident only a day ago, when Romania and Belarus scrambled jets in response to targets flying in their airspace during the Russian drone attack on Ukraine late on Oct. 17.
On Oct. 19, Romania once again scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and two Spanish F-18s that are used for air policing missions in the country.
In both incidents, the targets disappeared from the radars before the pilots could find them. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Oct. 18 that the incident could have been a cyber attack against the country's defense system since "pilots did not have visual contact with the drone."
Russia launched up to 98 drones and six missiles against Ukraine on Oct. 19, injuring people and causing destruction that led to power outages in three Ukrainian regions.
Romania, a NATO member, has reported numerous incidents when its airspace was violated over the course of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and condemned Russia's attacks on Ukraine as violations of international law.
Over the past year, debris from Russian drones were found on the Romanian territory as Russia carried out attacks targeting Ukrainian infrastructure.
Natalia Yermak
