Russian drone debris found in Romanian border town, Defense Ministry confirms
Romania's Defense Ministry confirmed on Sept. 9 that it had found Russian drone fragments near the village of Periprava, situated directly across the Danube River from the Ukrainian border.
Officials from Romania's Intelligence Service, Internal Affairs Ministry, and Defense Ministry said they were also investigating another possible drone impact site near the village of Caraorman - about 38 km south of the first impact site.
The confirmation from the Defense Ministry comes after the ministry said that an overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine on Sept. 8 violated Romanian airspace.
"The Defense Ministry strongly condemns these attacks by the Russian Federation against Ukrainian civilian facilities and infrastructure, which are unjustified and seriously violate international law," said in their statement on Sept. 8.
Residents in the Romanian counties of Tulcea and Constanta received alerts around 2:30 a.m. local time, advising them to take shelter and warning of possible falling objects.
Two F-16 fighter jets took off from Romania's 86th Borca Air Base to monitor the airspace, the ministry said. The Russian drone entered Romanian airspace but later left, heading back toward Ukraine.
It was not the first time that wreckage of Russian drones have been found on Romanian territory, which is a NATO country. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River that separates Ukraine and Romania.
On Aug. 21, drone fragments were discovered again in the village of Periprava near the Romania-Ukraine border.
The news of drone wreckage found in Romania follows confirmation from Latvia's Defense Ministry that a Russian Shahed-type drone equipped with an explosive crashed in Latvia on Sept. 7.
The incident, which was officially confirmed on Sept. 9, marks the first case of a Russian drone crashing on Latvian soil.
In response to the incident, Latvia summoned the Russian Embassy's charge d'affaires to express protest at the airspace violation.
Elsa Court
