Romania shot down a Russian drone after violating airspace: the Armed Forces of Ukraine suggested a deliberate provocation

The Romanian military shot down a drone that violated the country’s airspace on July 24. The Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova suggested that Russia may have intentionally directed the drone towards a NATO member country.

This is reported by Agerpres .

According to Romanian President Nicusor Dan, a Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone that had violated the country’s airspace at around 11:00 a.m. He noted that the area where the drone was located was uninhabited, so the use of weapons did not pose a threat to civilians.

“The area was uninhabited, so the pilot was able to open fire without any risk. Currently, teams are identifying those responsible for this situation and surveying the area to find out all the details of this incident,” said Nikushor Dan.

According to journalists, prior to the incident, Romania had issued a state emergency alert, RO-ALERT, due to the possible appearance of a drone. The alert covered a significant area of the southeast of the country, including the counties of Buzău, Breila, Galați, and Tulcea.

Yuriy Ignat, head of the communications department of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, commenting on Russia’s night attack on Ukraine, said that Russian troops are increasingly using jet drones and strike drones with control channels via mesh networks. According to him, such drones allow the operator to change the route and target in real time.

“And such a drone with mesh networks flew in today – it was recorded crossing the state border somewhere in the Vilkovo area – it flew into Romania. Fighter jets were picking it up there, the president has already stated that they shot it down. We see that if it really had control channels, then the question is also: are the Russians doing this intentionally, sending these drones to NATO countries,” Ignat said.

He also noted that jet drones can make up up to 20-30% of the total number of Russian drones during attacks, and to intercept them, it is necessary to involve aviation or anti-aircraft missile systems.

Recall that on the night of June 26, Romania declared an air alert due to a Russian attack on the Odessa region . Amidst the attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure near the border, the country deployed a military helicopter to monitor the air situation.

Earlier, “Pryamiy” reported that in the Romanian city of Galati on May 29, a Russian drone crashed into a residential building. After the impact, a fire broke out, two people were injured. Subsequently, Romania established that the drone that fell and hit the residential building in the city of Galati was of Russian origin . The conclusion was made based on the results of a technical investigation by state specialists.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , X , Telegram , and Instagram.