NATO fighter jet shoots down drone in Romania near border with Ukraine

Romania’s defense ministry said Sunday a NATO fighter jet shot down a drone that had entered its airspace near the border with two of its neighboring countries Ukraine and Moldova.

The ministry said in a statement the drone had entered from Moldova and was intercepted by an Spanish F-18 jet deployed on NATO duties early Sunday morning. Debris fell in an unpopulated area near the border with Ukraine, the ministry added.

The interception is the latest in a series of similar recurring incidents involving drones straying into Ukraine’s neighboring countries borders, which authorities have blamed on electronic interference as part of the war with Russia. In some cases, the drones are Ukrainian and are “hijacked” by Russian forces.

Authorities have reported finding drone fragments on Romanian soil several times since 2023 following Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports along the Danube River, which lie just across the border. Last week, Ukraine denied targeting Bulgaria after a drone entered the country’s airspace on Saturday and exploded close to an international gas pipeline shortly after crossing the border from Romania.

Last month, Romania shot down a drone for the first time since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, after it entered the country’s airspace about 60 miles from Bucharest. 

In June, Latvia’s military said two NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered the country’s airspace. Ukrainian drones have previously crashed in all three Baltic states, which all share borders with Russia, with officials blaming the inadvertent incursion on Russian electronic warfare.