Russian Drones Over Romanian Villages
During another Russian attack on Ukrainian ports, some attack drones crossed into the airspace of Romania, a NATO member, and one of them likely crashed in a forest near the city of Tulcea. The country's Ministry of Defense does not confirm the information.
This was reported by the Romanian publication DiGi24, citing the mayor of the commune of Ceatalchioi, Tudor Cherneha.
According to the mayor, the residents of the Ceatalchioi community informed him that Russian drones flew directly over their homes.
"Local residents confirm that the drones flew in a straight line over the buildings in Ceatalchioi. There is great fear. No downed drone has been found. There are testimonies from some local residents, sailors, that a drone fell in the forest. They searched, but found nothing. There are no roads in that dense forest," Cherneha noted.
At the same time, the mayor emphasized that the attack UAVs flew from multiple directions to deceive the air defense systems.
"When rumors spread that a drone fell on our territory, there was panic because their accuracy is not high. People were scared, windows were shattered because the shockwave spread very strongly through the marshy area, creating an impression of an earthquake. When it was seen that machine guns were firing, panic was very high," the mayor said.
The Ministry of Defense of Romania responded to the incident by sending an investigative-operational group to the scene. Later, it was reported that "nothing confirming the information from the rumors was found." However, the defense agency emphasized that there is currently no direct military threat to Romania's national security. Nevertheless, security measures have been strengthened, including control over land, air, and sea space, as well as collaboration with NATO to reinforce defense.
Incidents where Russian military objects cross the airspace of other countries, including NATO member states, are not rare.
Recently, Belarusian helicopters were spotted over Polish airspace.
"The crossing of the border occurred in the area of Belovezhskaya Pushcha at a very low altitude, which complicated detection by radar systems," the Polish Ministry of Defense said.
Following this incident, the Polish Ministry of Defense ordered an immediate deployment of additional military personnel to the borders with Belarus and provided them with more forces and means for defense and patrolling, including combat helicopters.
Last year, during Russia's massive attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, two Russian missiles fell on the territory of the village of Pshevodiv in Poland, resulting in the death of two civilians.
Reports of Russian Kalibr missiles flying over Moldova and Romania were also confirmed in February 2023. This information was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of Moldova.