A Russian drone violated Romania's airspace forcing the airforce to scramble two F16 warplanes on Sunday and another crashed in Latvia on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENTA Russian drone violated Romania's airspace during night-time attacks on neighbouring Ukraine, the NATO member reported on Sunday, urging Moscow to stop what it described as an escalation.
The incident occurred as Russia carried out attacks on “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube River in Ukraine, Romania's Ministry of National Defence said.
Romania deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace, and NATO allies were kept informed, the ministry said. Romanian emergency authorities also issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions.
Preliminary data indicates there may be an “impact zone” in an uninhabited area near the Romanian village of Periprava, the ministry said. It added that an investigation is underway.
Fragments of a Russian drone were discovered near the town of Plauru, which is situated across the Danube River from Ukraine’s port town of Izmail.
The Romanian Defence Ministry strongly condemned the Russian attacks on Ukraine, calling them “unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law.”
Mircea Geoana, NATO's outgoing deputy secretary-general and Romania's former top diplomat, said the military alliance also condemned Russia’s violation of Romanian airspace.
Another Russian drone crashed in Latvia
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics posted on X that a Russian military drone crashed in the Eastern part of Latvia on Saturday.
The drone came from Belarussian airspace according to the Latvian military.
Latvia is conducting an investigation and "the government is in close contact with its NATO allies" Rinkevics underlined. "The number of such incidents is increasing along the Eastern flank of NATO and we must address them collectively," he added in his social post.
The latest statement on Latvian Defence Ministry's website said that the drone flew into Latvian airspace from Belarus and Latvia immediately informed NATO.
"The National Armed Forces detected the UAV entering Latvian territory, monitored its movement and located the crash site. The investigation is ongoing," the statement says.
"In view of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Latvia is stepping up the protection of its land borders, airspace and territorial waters, and the National Armed Forces are reinforcing their air defence capabilities on the eastern border. In addition, NATO allies ensure air patrolling mission over the Baltic States on a rotational basis," the statement concludes.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned a representative of the Russian embassy for a meeting on Monday.
Poland searches for suspected crashed Russian drone
Poland is also searching for the remains of a Russian drone that Warsaw says crashed recently in its territory.
ADVERTISEMENTA drone had likely entered the country's airspace early on August 26 during a Russian bombardment of Ukraine and may have landed on Polish territory, the Polish authorities have stated.