Romania becomes NATO’s second country that reports Russian drones in airspace

Romania says a Russian drone has broken its airspace – the second NATO side to report such an invasion.

The Romanian fighter jets were in the air, watching a Russian attack in Ukraine on Saturday and were able to track the drone near the southern border of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense said.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski said the invasion could not be a mistake – it was “an obvious expansion of war from Russia.” Moscow did not comment on Romanian claims.

On Wednesday, Poland said she had removed at least three Russian drones that had entered his airspace.

In its statement, the Romanian Ministry of Defense said it opened the Russian drone when two F-16 aircraft monitors the country with Ukraine, after “Russian air attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube.”

The drone was discovered 20 km (12.4 miles) southwest of the village of Chili before it disappeared from the radar.

But it does not fly in populated areas or did not pose an immediate danger, the ministry said.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kalas called the incident “Another unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of the EU state”.

Poland also answered fears about Russian drones on Saturday.

“Aviation preventive operations – Polish and Allied – started in our airspace,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a publication of X.

“An air defense systems have reached the highest state of readiness.”

Earlier this week, Russia The Ministry of Defense said there were no “plans” to direct facilities on Polish soil.

Belarus, a close Russian ally, said the drones that entered Polish airspace on Wednesday are an incident after their navigation systems were clogged.

On Sunday, the Czech Republic announced that it had sent a helicopter for special operations in Poland.

The device consists of three I-171 helicopters, each capable of transporting up to 24 staff and involving full combat equipment.

This move is in response to the invasion of the Russian in NATO’s eastern flank, Czech Minister of Defense Yana Chernochova said.

In response to the last invasion of the drone, President Zelenski said the Russian military “knew exactly where their drones were heading and how long they could work in the air.”

He consistently asked the Western countries to tighten sanctions against Moscow.

US President Donald Trump also embarked on violation of the airspace earlier this week, saying he is “ready” to impose more sanctions on Russia only, but only if NATO countries fulfill certain conditions, such as stopping Russian oil.

Russia began a full -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and made slow progress in the battlefield.

Trump has made efforts to end the war, but Russia has intensified attacks against Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin returned from a summit with Trump in Alaska last month.