On the night of Friday 29 May in Romania, a drone landed on the roof of an apartment building in the city of Galati. The Romanian Defence Ministry said that it was a Russian drone. As a result of the explosion and fire, two people were injured, about 70 residents were evacuated. Subsequently, another drone was found in Romania, which did not explode.
The incident involving the high-rise building was reported by the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (ISU) and local media, particularly Viața Liberă.
Romania’s Defence Ministry noted that on the night of 29 May, Russia attacked Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure facilities near the border with drones. One of the Russian UAVs entered Romanian airspace and landed on the roof of a residential building in Galati.
An explosion and fire erupted after the impact. According to local rescuers, the drone hit a flat on the tenth floor.
Firefighters, medics, police, Interior Ministry officers and Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) specialists promptly arrived on the scene.
As of the morning of 29 May, the area where the drone fell remained partially closed. Law enforcers launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
Subsequently, it became known that another drone without a warhead was found in northern Romania in the area of Besesti commune.
The military explained that they did not shoot down the drone due to time constraints and the limitations under which the country’s army has to work, a Romanian Defence Ministry spokesman said.
“We cannot fire in such a way that it affects the airspace of a neighbouring country. In addition, it takes a certain amount of time to hit an aerial target, which includes detection, identification and defeat. The 4 minutes we had at our disposal was an extremely short time,” the military said.
Two casualties and evacuation of residents
The director of the Galati ambulance service, Daniela Enciu, said that two people were injured in the incident.
A woman experienced first-degree burns and a 14-year-old teenager suffered an acute stress reaction. Both received the necessary medical attention.
About 70 residents were evacuated from the house.
Author photo, Reuters
SRI pyrotechnicians later determined that the drone’s warhead had fully detonated when it fell, so there was no threat of a second explosion.
Authorities then cancelled further evacuation of neighbouring entrances.