NATO fighter jets shoot down drone over Romania near Moldova border

Spanish F-18s Destroy Drone in Romanian Skies Near Moldova Frontier

Poinews.com – At 04:44 on Sunday morning, two Spanish F-18 fighter jets — already positioned on standby as a precautionary measure — received clearance to engage an unidentified aerial object. The craft had been spotted roughly 24 kilometres north of Galati and was subsequently intercepted and destroyed in the stretch between Baleni and Cudalbi, a region in south-eastern Romania sitting close to the Moldovan frontier. Romanian authorities have yet to confirm where the drone originated.

Minister Miruta: Allies Standing Firmly Behind Bucharest

The defence minister extended congratulations to both the Spanish aircrew and the Romanian personnel operating the command centre. In a public statement, Miruta underscored that Romania

“is defending its airspace”

and that it enjoys the full backing of its partners within the Alliance. He characterised that collective support as a concrete security guarantee rooted in constant vigilance, swift reaction capability, and mutual solidarity among member states.

The minister further stressed that Romania occupies the forward edge of European Union defence, a role he linked directly to the approximately 614 kilometres of shared land boundary with Ukraine.

A Pattern of Repeated Airspace Breaches

This latest episode extends an already lengthy catalogue of incursions logged over recent weeks in Romanian airspace. Just last Thursday, two Spanish F-18s scrambled from the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base after sensors picked up an airborne object hovering near the riverine border with Ukraine. That drone lingered inside Romanian territory for roughly 12 minutes before retreating back across into Ukraine, prompting officials to dispatch SMS warnings to residents of Tulcea county.

The following day saw a separate drone crash within Romania after slipping through national airspace undetected by radar — it had been flying at extremely low altitude. Simultaneously, tensions escalated in the Baltic region, where allied jets downed yet another drone over Latvian territory.

Earlier in the month, an unidentified device detonated inside Bulgarian airspace near the Romanian frontier after crossing over from Romanian territory.

The Most Serious Precedent: May 29 Strike on Galati

The gravest incident to date occurred on 29 May, when a Russian drone hit a residential building in Galati, igniting a fire and wounding two occupants. NATO at the time labelled the act an irresponsible escalation by Russia. Secretary-General Mark Rutte reaffirmed that the organisation stands prepared to defend every inch of allied territory against threats of this kind.

Wider Context: Another Night of Mutual Strikes

The shootdown unfolded in the aftermath of yet another night of reciprocal attacks between Moscow and Kyiv. Russian bombardment set major fires across Kyiv, injuring at least two civilians, while Moscow announced it had been struck by more than 600 drones launched from Ukrainian territory, leaving three people wounded on the Russian side.