Romania Is 2nd NATO Country In A Week To Be Breached By Russian Drones

Romania summoned the Russian ambassador to Bucharest on Sunday after alleging a Russian drone had entered its airspace, marking the second such incident involving a NATO member in less than a week, and at a moment NATO assets in the region remain on high alert, after the Poland incident.

The Russian drone was said to have been tracked by Poland’s air force in the vicinity of Ukraine’s southern border, the country’s defense minister said. A European Union official has blasted the latest breach as a “reckless escalation”.

Romania scrambled a pair two F-16 fighter jets in response to monitor the air situation near the border with Ukraine, following Russian strikes on Ukrainian Danube infrastructure” at 6:05pm Saturday local time.

However, Romania’s military also noted that the drone did not fly over populated areas and “did not pose an imminent threat to the civilian population.” The breach incident came after “Russian air attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube.”

Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu confirmed that Russia’s ambassador to Bucharest had been summoned in “protest against this unacceptable and irresponsible act, which represents a violation of Romania’s sovereignty.”

Interestingly, the Romanian pilots had a chance to intercept the drones and decided not to, allowing them to freely exit the airspace, according to BBC:

Under a new Romanian law passed this summer, the pilots were authorized to shoot the Russian drone down, but decided not to.

The defence ministry said it “assessed the collateral risks and decided not to open fire”. The statement came after the air force was criticized in Romanian media for not shooting the drone down.

Last week’s incident in Poland resulted in three of the Russian drones – which some sources described as mere decoy drones – being shot out of the sky. PM Donald Tusk indicated 19 drones were observed breaching Poland’s airspace.

But in that case, one drone did fall on a Polish family’s house, resulting in damage but no casualties. It could be that the Romanian pilots were concerned over debris possibly hurting civilians or damaging infrastructure below, and held off intercepting.

Just last month, Russia once again struck energy and port infrastructure just across the border, within visibility of the Romanian side…

Russia hit gas transport infrastructure in Odessa with kamikaze drones. The fire is so big that it can be seen from Romania. pic.twitter.com/X4PUs63KzP

— Gabe (@GabeZZOZZ) August 6, 2025

Despite Bucharest playing down the fresh incident, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has once again seized the opportunity, saying on X that “The Russian military knows exactly where their drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air. Their routes are always calculated.”

He concluded: “This cannot be a coincidence, a mistake, or the initiative of some lower-level commanders. It is an obvious expansion of the war by Russia – and this is exactly how they act. Small steps at first, and eventually big losses.”