The Russian ambassador was summoned to the Romanian Foreign Ministry on 14 September to protest against the intrusion of a Russian drone into its airspace.
According to the Romanian service of Radio Liberty, Foreign Minister Oana Choi said that the Russian ambassador to Bucharest, Vladimir Lipayev, had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry said on the evening of 14 September that “the Romanian side expressed its strong protest against this unacceptable and irresponsible act, which is a violation of Romania’s sovereignty.”
“Such repeated situations mean an escalation and intensification of threats to regional security. The Russian side was asked to immediately take all necessary measures to avoid future violations of Romania’s airspace. Romania is in constant contact with its allies and other EU members,” the ministry said.
The Romanian Defence Ministry said this morning that the drone spotted in Romanian airspace the night before was Russian. The drone in question was a Geranium-type UAV used for Russian Federation attacks on Ukraine, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the drone flew for about 50 minutes from northeast to southwest along the Kili branch of the Danube River, which forms the Romanian-Ukrainian border. The drone later headed towards Ukraine and left Romanian airspace. Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets took to the air and monitored the drone.
The F-16 pilots received permission from their commanders to fire at the drone, but “they assessed the associated risks and decided not to fire,” the Romanian Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The incident comes after Poland shot down several of the nearly 20 Russian drones that violated its airspace on 10 September. It was the first time NATO forces had fired on Russian targets since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
The Russian Defence Ministry did not comment on the Romania incident.
After the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones, the Russian ministry claimed that its forces had launched a massive strike with precision weapons and drones against Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises in five regions, while “no targets were planned on Polish territory”.