Russian drone attack injures two in Romania

A Russian drone impacted an apartment building in Romania, wounding two people during an incident early Friday morning. The Romanian defense ministry reported that the drone entered Romanian airspace while targeting civilian and infrastructure sites in Ukraine, crashing onto the roof of a Galati building and causing a fire.

Following detection, Romanian authorities scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to respond to the breach. Local emergency services treated two individuals for abrasions, and the fire caused by the drone was extinguished.

This incident marks the first time a drone has hit a residential area in Romania, although incursions have been reported numerous times since the onset of the Russian offensive against Ukraine in 2022. In September, similar incidents occurred with a drone breach of Romanian airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine, which also resulted in the deployment of fighter jets.

NATO-member countries neighboring Ukraine, such as Romania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland, are increasingly facing drone incursions from both Ukraine and Russia. Recently, Latvia's new government addressed concerns about air defense weaknesses following stray drones. These events have heightened anxiety regarding air security among former Soviet republics that are now part of NATO and the European Union.