Romania has shot down a third Russian drone in three days after it entered the country's airspace over the Black Sea, prompting President Nicusor Dan to condemn the incursions as
"inadmissible and intolerable".
The Romanian defence ministry said an F-16 fighter pilot intercepted and destroyed the drone on Sunday above Romania's territorial waters, about 12km north-east of the Black Sea town of Sulina. The aircraft was brought down without causing damage on the ground.
Romania, a NATO and European Union member, shares a 650km (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has repeatedly reported Russian drones straying into its airspace during Moscow's full-scale invasion. The latest incidents come as Russia intensifies attacks on Ukrainian ports along the Danube River.
Writing on X, President Dan said Russia's repeated violations of Romanian airspace were unacceptable because they also breached NATO and EU territory.
"It is inadmissible and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania's airspace," he said, adding that Romania was treating the incidents with the "utmost seriousness" alongside its allies.
Romania shot down its first Russian drone on Friday after previously monitoring and tracking similar incursions without destroying them. Two more drones have since been intercepted on Saturday and Sunday.
The president said the drone destroyed on Friday had been identified as a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle, widely used by Russian forces, while investigations into the other two incidents are continuing.
Romania's foreign ministry said it had summoned Russia's ambassador in Bucharest over the repeated airspace violations. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan also described the incursions as "unacceptable".
NATO said it was gathering further details about Sunday's incident. Colonel Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for NATO's military headquarters, said the shootdowns came as the alliance and member states continued to strengthen air defence systems with additional ground-based interceptors.
Defence Minister Radu Miruta said Romania would continue to defend its sovereignty and airspace but warned that such provocations "must stop".
According to the defence ministry, Russian drones have entered Romanian airspace without authorisation 33 times since the war in Ukraine began more than four years ago.
Prosecutors have recovered debris from the drone shot down on Friday and are continuing to search for wreckage from the two aircraft destroyed over the weekend.
On Friday, Romania's army chief said Russian strikes around Ukraine's port of Odesa had intensified ahead of the grain harvest, increasing pressure on key energy infrastructure and trade routes across the Black Sea. Photo by Dpsu.gov.ua, Wikimedia commons.
