Romania says it shot down two Russian drones over the Black Sea

Romania said Saturday it shot down two Russian drones over the Black Sea, the latest in a spate of incidents believed to be spillover from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ships have been attacked in recent days by drones in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania and Bulgaria.

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“Two drones were engaged and shot down a few minutes ago by Romanian military pilots over the Black Sea, moments after they had illegally entered our country,” Defence Minister Radu Miruta wrote on Facebook.

The drones were shot down by F-16 fighter jets some 20 kilometres (13 miles) southeast of the town of Sulina.

“The first drone entered national airspace at 17:59 (1459 GMT) and was shot down within two minutes,” Miruta said. The second was shot down at 18:05, five minutes after entering Romanian airspace.

Two Romanian Air Force F-16s engaged the drones, according to a defence ministry press release.

“The targets that were neutralised were jet-powered attack drones from the Geran family,” it said.

Geran-type drones are Russian versions of Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones.

“The Black Sea will be safe again,” Foreign Minister Oana Toiu tweeted on X, adding that NATO will discuss the issue on Tuesday at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s political decision-making body.

“The Black Sea serves as a critical maritime artery for the global export of grain, energy resources, and industrial commodities, making its stability vital to international food and energy security,” she wrote.

Several drone attacks on shipping in the Black Sea were reported in October off Romania and Bulgaria. The latest on Thursday left seven crew missing off Romania’s coast.

President Nicusor Dan said on Thursday, after meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte, that Romania needs “equipment to deal with a new kind of challenge”.

Rutte said the military alliance would “continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed”.

Dan, who asked for the “unacceptable” drone attacks on vessels in the Black Sea to stop, told reporters on Friday that attacks were recorded in the last ten days on a transport corridor in the Black Sea used by Ukraine.

“It is too early to prove technically that it was a Russian attack, but our intuition tells us that Russia stands to benefit from this situation of uncertainty,” he said at the time.

NATO forces have previously shot down four drones this year in Romanian airspace.

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