Romania Downs Second Drone in Two Days

Romania shot down a drone in its airspace on Saturday for the second day in a row, marking the second time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it said.

The NATO member bordering Ukraine has seen frequent drone incursions, including drones crashing on its soil, since 2022.

Its forces shot down a drone for the first time on Friday, around 114 kilometres (70 miles) from Bucharest.

The military took down another drone, which "had illegally entered Romanian airspace", on Saturday at 8:34 am (0534 GMT), according to defence minister Radu Miruta.

It was shot down 9.6 kilometres (six miles) west of Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta near the border with Ukraine, he added.

"The drone was detected by Ministry of National Defence radars entering our airspace at 8:22 and was struck a few minutes later by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet," he posted on Facebook.

Drone incursions in Romania have been detected dozens of times since the start of the Ukraine war.

A drone smashed into an apartment building in May, wounding two people and drawing condemnation from NATO and the European Union, which blamed Russia and warned against further incursions.

In 2025, the Romanian parliament adopted a law allowing the country to shoot down drones breaching its airspace.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday on X that "strengthening defence and deterrence along our Eastern border remains a top priority," commending the Romanian military.