30 June 2026
(PHOTO: Romanian Ministry of Defense)
The Ministry of National Defense announced on Monday, June 29, that in the Rachelu area, in the commune of Lunca Vița, Tulcea County, near the border with the Odesa region, a local resident called 112 to report the presence of drone fragments.
According to the ministry, experts discovered an explosive device inside the drone.
The charge was detonated on site on the morning of June 30. The Constanta Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the matter. Preliminary data obtained from assessments conducted by experts indicate that the fragments originated from a drone used during the Russian Federation’s attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure in April 2026, before measures were taken to consolidate and adapt the air defense system following serious incidents in Galați.
The ministry has calculated that since the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, more than 100 attacks on targets located near the border with Romania have been recorded. There have been 29 recorded unauthorized incursions by Russian drones into national airspace, and in approximately 50 cases, drones or their fragments were detected on Romanian territory. In 2026 alone, 33 attacks were recorded near the border, and as part of airspace protection and monitoring measures, air police aircraft were deployed in 26 instances. Also this year, 15 unauthorized drone intrusions into national airspace were recorded, and in 14 cases, drones or their fragments were detected on Romanian territory.
In April, debris from a Russian drone was found in Romania near the border with the Odesa region on the morning of April 25—it had damaged a power line pole and an outbuilding attached to a residential house.
Кирило Бойко