Romanian military destroys suspected Russian sea drone in Black Sea

The Romanian military destroyed a suspected Russian drone near the Neptun Deep natural gas project in the Black Sea, Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruta said in a statement on Aug. 20.

"This morning, we were informed by the Coast Guard about the existence of a marine drone a few hundred meters away from the works carried out to extract gas at the Neptun Deep platform, in the exclusive economic zone, 80 miles east of Constanta," Miruta said.

Two Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter jets were tasked with destroying the drone, he said.

Video posted to social media showed a Romanian F-16 diving towards the suspected Russian drone and strafing it with its cannon.

The attack was successful and disabled the drone, which was then safely disposed of by bomb disposal experts of the Romanian Coast Guard, Miruta said in a later statement.

"Through the direct communication channel recently created with the Ukrainian side, I received the official confirmation that it is not of Ukrainian origin," Miruta said.

High-quality images of the intruding drone showed a small black vessel of a design not known to be used by the Ukrainian military.

Whilst Miruta did not directly blame Russia for the intrusion, Romanian President Nicusor Dan explicitly blamed Russia.

"I strongly condemn the intensification of these types of irresponsible incidents from the Russian Federation," Dan said in a statement. "We remain vigilant with NATO allies to defend ourselves and repel such challenges."

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the incident.

"Today, Romania destroyed a naval drone carrying explosives near its Neptun Deep platform in the Black Sea," she said in a statement.

"An escalating campaign of threats is underway, unsettling our citizens and seeking to divide our Union. This is hybrid warfare."