Romanian F-16s shoot down explosive-laden drone near Black Sea gas platform

On Thursday morning, the Romanian coast guard alerted the country's Ministry of Defence to a drone loaded with explosives spotted in the Black Sea. According to the ministry, the drone was around 150 kilometres from the port city of Constanța and just 80–100 metres from the Neptun Deep gas platform.

The Ministry of Defence immediately set up an operational command centre and decided to destroy the drone in order to protect the lives of several hundred people working on the platform and safeguard critical infrastructure.

"Given how quickly the situation was developing, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled with orders to open fire. The drone was safely destroyed," Romanian Defence Minister Moșteanu wrote on Facebook. He added that the jets used their onboard six-barrel cannons to bring the drone down.

Not a Ukrainian drone

The minister stressed that the drone was not of Ukrainian origin. "Through the recently established direct communication channel with the Ukrainian side, we received official confirmation that the drone was not Ukrainian," he said, without specifying who it actually belonged to.

Unlike the minister, Romania's president did not directly name the source of the drone, but made clear he suspected Russia. He noted that the operation to destroy the drone was "a race against time," in which protecting human lives remained the top priority.

"I firmly condemn the growing number of such reckless incidents by the Russian Federation. Together with our NATO allies, we remain vigilant in order to defend ourselves and deter such provocations," the president said, as quoted by a local TV channel.

Footage later circulated on social media that, according to the same broadcaster, was filmed by a witness on the drilling platform. It shows the moment an F-16 neutralises the drone.

What is Neptun Deep

Neptun Deep is a major Romanian project to extract natural gas from fields in the Black Sea. Construction and completion of the extraction infrastructure is currently underway, with commercial production due to begin in 2027.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz