16 August 2026
(PHOTO: espreso.tv)
<span><span><span><span><span><span>The pilot of a Spanish F-18 fighter jet, who was on a NATO air patrol mission, shot down a drone over Romania. This is the fourth unmanned aerial vehicle shot down by the country this year.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span><span><span>This was reported by the Romanian Ministry of Defense.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span><span><span>The ministry stated that the likely crash site of the drone’s debris was located between the towns of Beleni and Cudalbi in Galați County, in a remote area. The air raid alert for Galați County ended at 5:20 a.m.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
The aerial target entered Romanian airspace from the Republic of Moldova, approximately 24 km north of Galați.
<span><span><span><span><span><span>“An F-18 fighter jet established radar contact with the target and received authorization to engage it,” the ministry stated. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span><span><span>The drone was shot down at </span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span>5:01 a.m</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span>.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
Earlier, a drone of unknown origin entered Bulgarian airspace and exploded near an international gas pipeline shortly after crossing the border with Romania.
Bulgarian Prime MinisterRumen Radevstated thatthe explosionoccurred approximately 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station and approximately 1 kilometer from a Bulgarian compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. It was not detected or identified during its flight through either Romanian or Bulgarian airspace.
Radu Miruce, Romania’s acting defense minister, stated that Russia has changed its tactics for launching drones. In his opinion, this trend will continue, so they will have to constantly adapt.
Юлія Калабайда