NATO fighter jets were deployed today after a suspected Russian drone crashed following an invasion of Romanian airspace.
Footage showed a dramatic explosion believed to have taken place at a port on the Ukrainian side of the Danube River, which forms the border with Romania.
But reports in Bucharest said the same wave of attacks had crashed on Putin’s drone near Tulcea county on the Romanian side of the border.
The Russian incursion prompted a response from NATO fighters and an airstrike warning to residents near the Danube in Romania.
Residents were asked to shelter in place in safe areas for 90 minutes during an alert that objects could still be falling from the sky.
File image shows a French Air Force Rafale B standard F4 fighter jet flying as part of NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing (eAP) mission in the Baltic States, December 17, 2024.
Moment in which a Russian drone is seen exploding in a Ukrainian port on the Danube River while another Putin UAV is reported to have hit NATO territory in Romania, prompting a revolt by Western fighter jets.
The Romanian Ministry of Defense said: “At 1:35 am, two F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Force, part of the Air Police Combat Service, took off from the 86th Air Base in Borcea to monitor the situation. aerial.
‘The plane returned to base around 3:48 am’
NATO structures were kept fully aware of Russia’s alleged illegal incursion, Romanian officials said.
“The Ministry of National Defense sends a strong message of condemnation of these attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukrainian civilian objects and infrastructure elements, which are unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law,” a statement said. Romanian.
Several Russian drones were said to have been launched from Crimea and hit the port of Chilia Nouă, near the town of Chilia Veche.
Ukraine shot down some of the Russian drones before they hit the Romanian port, Antena 3 information.
Drone fragments and airspace violations have regularly occurred over the past year and a half as Russia attacked Danube River port infrastructure in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, NATO fighter jets were deployed to Poland amid a wave of Russian missile and drone attacks in western Ukraine, near the alliance’s eastern flank.
Huge Tu-22 and Tu-95 strategic bombers had been bombing Ukraine near the Polish border before the NATO planes took off.
The attack was seen as instant revenge for Tuesday’s Ukrainian airstrikes against Russia, the most intense of the nearly three-year war.
In particular, Putin was taken aback by Ukraine’s use of British Storm Shadow and American ATACMS missiles that hit key defense facilities, including a chemical plant in the Bryansk region.
NATO forces have gone on high alert in Poland with fighter jets deployed, the country’s operational command headquarters said.
A Scramble is triggered when an aircraft makes an invalid or incorrect flight plan; fails or loses communication with the relevant air traffic control authority; or does not communicate with air traffic control authorities using the transponder,” according to NATO.