Romania has summoned the head of the Russian mission in the country and is "closely consulting with NATO allies" following the discovery of more drone debris on its territory, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said on Sept. 13.
The ministry "reiterates its firm protest to a new violation of Romania's airspace and firmly condemns the ongoing attacks on Ukraine," it wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The ministry also condemned the "reckless escalation of the security situation by Russia, close to the Romanian border."
Earlier on Sept. 13, Romania's Defense Minister said that the Romanian military had discovered suspected Russian drone fragments roughly 15-20 kilometers southeast of the Ukrainian border.
The country's Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu called for calm and told journalists that the local population was in "no danger."
"We are not talking about an attack on Romania," he said.
However, he said that the government has installed shelters in Plauru, a city across the Danube from the Ukrainian city of Izmail, "because people did not feel safe."
Izmail is one of the cities in Odesa Oblast that is frequently targeted by Russian forces due to its port infrastructure.
Russia escalated its attacks against Ukrainian ports following its unilateral termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in an attempt to destroy Ukraine's ability to export agricultural products.
Earlier in September, the impact from these attacks began to to spill over the border and into Romanian territory.
Following a drone attack overnight on Sept. 4, Ukraine said that a number of Russian attack drones 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 appeared to be drone fragments had been found on Romania's side of the Danube River.
On Sept. 9, the Romanian military found debris from yet another drone "similar to those used by the Russian army" in Plauru, only a few hundred meters from the Ukrainian border.
Romania's President Klaus Iohannis condemned the incident "caused by the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian ports on the Danube."
The Foreign Ministry last summoned the Russian ambassador over the issue on Sept. 10.
Francis Farrell
