Romania has shot down a drone over its airspace for the third day running and summoned Russia’s ambassador in Bucharest, after an investigation identified the first of the three aircraft as a model used by Russian forces against Ukraine.
A Romanian Air Force F-16 destroyed the latest drone at 10.13am on July 26 over territorial waters in the Sulina-Chilia area of the Danube Delta, President Nicușor Dan said. The defence ministry put the interception 12km northeast of the Black Sea port of Sulina, eastern Romania.
Dan said it was “inadmissible and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania’s airspace”, which he noted was also NATO and European Union airspace. He added that Romania was treating the incursions with the utmost seriousness alongside its allies.
Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu said the Russian ambassador had been called in over the repeated violations. Moscow has not commented on the incidents.
Dan said an investigation had established that the drone brought down on July 24 was a Shahed type, used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. Inquiries into the drones destroyed on July 25 and July 26 were still under way, he said.
The first was shot down in an unpopulated area near the Ukrainian border, ending a run of incursions in which Romanian pilots had held their fire. The second was intercepted at about 8.30am the following day roughly 10km west of the village of Sfântu Gheorghe.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan described the breaches as unacceptable. Defence Minister Radu Miruță said Romania would continue to defend its sovereignty and airspace, adding that “these provocations must stop”.
The defence ministry said Russian drones had entered Romanian airspace 33 times since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Romania shares a 650km land border with Ukraine and Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukrainian ports along the Danube and around Odesa.
Parliament passed a law in 2025 allowing the military to bring down drones that breach national airspace and threaten lives or property, with destruction treated as a last resort.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commended the Romanian military for its “swift and effective response” after the first interception, saying deterrence along the bloc’s eastern border remained a priority.
The shoot-downs follow a Russian drone strike on an apartment block in Galați in May that wounded two people, an incident von der Leyen said had crossed a fresh line in Russia’s war. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at the time the alliance stood ready to defend “every inch” of allied territory.
