For the second time in two days, Romania shot down a drone that had entered its airspace following an attack on the Odesa region

Russian drones, which the occupiers use to attack the southern part of the Odesa region almost every night, are increasingly entering the airspace of neighboring Romania. In the last two days alone, the Romanian military has shot down drones twice.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan reported the incident.

 On July 25, at around 8:30 a.m. local time, the Romanian military shot down another drone approximately 10 kilometers west of the city of Sfântu Gheorghe. 

According to him, the drone was shot down by the pilot of an F-16 fighter jet of the Romanian Air Force. The type of drone was not officially specified.

This is the second such incident in the past two days. The day before, on July 24 at around 11:00 a.m., a Romanian F-16 fighter jet also shot down a drone that had intruded into the country’s airspace.

The President of Romania explained at the time that the target was over an uninhabited area, so the pilot was able to use force without putting civilians at risk.

Although the type of downed drone was not officially specified, the Romanian military had previously visually identified a similar aircraft as a Russian “Shahed” strike drone.

Following the incident on July 24, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) reported that two Romanian F-16 fighter jets from the Fetești Air Base and two Italian Eurofighters from the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base were scrambled to monitor the situation in the air. The aircraft operated under NATO command to identify an unknown drone moving near Romanian airspace.

Both incidents occurred amid massive Russian attacks on the Izmail district of the Odesa region.

According to the Izmail District State Administration, on the night of July 25, Russian forces again attacked the district with strike drones. Thanks to the efforts of air defense forces, large-scale destruction was averted.

The day before, on the night of July 24, the Izmail district also came under a massive attack by “suicide drones.” The air raid alert and strikes lasted nearly two hours.

Attacks on the infrastructure of Black Sea ports and ships have begun to affect Ukraine’s grain exports through the Black Sea. Against this backdrop, traders are discussing the possibility of rerouting some shipments through Danube ports and the Romanian port of Constanța.

Ірина Глухова