Published on •Updated
Romanian authorities said a second drone has been shot down over Romanian airspace in less than 24 hours.
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The drone was intercepted by an F-16 fighter jet at around at 8:30 am on Saturday morning, roughly 10 km west of the village of Sfântu Gheorghe in the eastern part of the country, Romanian President Nicușor Dan said.
According to the Romanian Defence Ministry, radar systems had earlier picked up a drone “operating in the vicinity of the Ukrainian border.”
Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to identify and intercept the target, with the drone “safely shot down in an unpopulated area near the border,” the ministry said in a statement.
An investigation into the incident is currently underway.
Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruta said “the impact site and the drone wreckage are currently being analysed” but that “the pattern is consistent with previous confirmed flights by Russian drones.”
It comes after another unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down by a Romanian F-16 at around 11 am on Friday.
In a statement, the Romanian Defence Ministry said an F-16 engaged that drone with an air-to-air missile while carrying out an air policing mission from Fetești air base in eastern Romania.
Two Italian air force Eurofighter Typhoon jets operating out of the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base were also scrambled to identify the potential threat.
The drone was shot down over an “unpopulated area” near Padina, northeast of the capital, Bucharest, per the ministry.
Radar systems detected the drone as it flew over the Black Sea before it headed west towards the port town of Sulina and then Buzău, the ministry said in its statement.
The Romanian Prosecutor General’s Office has confirmed that the intercepted drone was of the Shahed-type used by Russian forces, per Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu.
Responding to the news on Friday, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, praised the Romanian military for its “swift and effective response.”
“Strengthening defence and deterrence along our Eastern border remains a top priority,” she wrote in a post on social media.
Romania’s drone battle
Romania has seen a surge in drone incursions into its airspace in recent months.
In May, a Russian drone carrying explosives crashed into an apartment block in Galați, causing a fire on the roof and injuring two people.
A Ukrainian sea drone also exploded in the Romanian port of Constanta in June. The Ukrainian navy said at the time that the drone had been knocked off course as a result of Russian electronic warfare interference.
The incidents sparked concern among EU officials, with von der Leyen branding them “a direct consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”