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 at risk of falling "elements of the means of combat," issuing warnings through the Ro-Alert emergency system, and building shelters in the 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.
Identifying the areas that are at heightened risk of falling debris will be carried out by Romania's Defense Ministry.
According to the document, the decision was taken due to the "recent and repeated attacks carried out on the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Izmail, as well as the response of the Ukrainian air defense that caused the dispersion of the projectiles over large areas."
Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, lying not far from the Romanian border, after Moscow's unilateral termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Following a drone attack overnight on Sept. 4, Ukraine said that some of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) 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 the Alliance member Romania.
Martin Fornusek
