NATO member Romania condemns Moscow’s ‘irresponsible actions’ after Russian drone breaches its airspace

The incident comes after Poland, another NATO member, reportedly shot down at least three Russian drones which entered its airspace last week that prompted NATO allies to increase their defences on the alliance’s eastern front.

Today, the Romanian Air Force intercepted a Russian drone violating our national airspace.

Two F-16s from the 86th Air Base scrambled and tracked it until it disappeared near Chilia Veche. The population was never in danger.

Romania condemns Russia’s reckless behavior, which…

— Ionut Mosteanu (@IonutMosteanu) September 13, 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the inclusion of Russian drones in Poland and Romania could not be a mistake as he alleged that it is an attempt by Moscow as “an obvious expansion of the war”. Moscow has not commented on the claims made by Romania.

Romania’s defence ministry, in its statement, has said that two F-16 fighter jets intercepted the Russian drone when they were monitoring the country’s border with Ukraine in northern Dobruja and the fighter jets came close to downing the drone. The air patrol mission was being carried out after “Russian air attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube.”

The drone was reportedly detected 20 kilometers south-west of the village of Chilia Veche before it went out of the Romanian fighter jets radar. However, the defence ministry stated that the drone orbited around 50 minutes and left the national airspace near the town of Pardina in northern Dobruja, CNN reported.

“The Ministry of National Defense firmly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and emphasizes that they represent a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area,” Romania’s defence ministry said in the statement.

(with inputs from CNN, BBC)