Spanish Fighter Jet Shoots Down Russian Drone Over Romanian Territory

In the early hours of Sunday, a drone was shot down over Romanian territory after entering the country from neighbouring Moldova, where it had reportedly come from Ukrainian airspace, according to Romania's Ministry of National Defence. The drone was detected at 04:44 local time (03:44 Prague time), prompting the scrambling of two Spanish F-18 fighter jets.

One of the aircraft received clearance to engage the target. "The drone was safely shot down by an F-18 fighter at 05:01," the Romanian Defence Ministry reported. According to broadcaster Digi24, the drone's wreckage fell in an uninhabited area between the villages of Băleni and Cudalbi in Galați County. The air raid alert for the region was lifted at 05:20.

The ministry stated that it continuously monitors the situation and shares real-time information about such incidents with NATO allied structures, promising further details in due course.

Russian Connection

A NATO military command spokesperson, Martin O'Donnell, told Reuters that the drone was most likely of Russian origin. "The details of Sunday's incident are still being investigated, but it appears to be a Russian drone," he said.

Romanian Defence Minister Radu Mirucă congratulated the Spanish pilots on a successfully completed mission. "Romania is defending its airspace, and our allies stand beside us. Vigilance, rapid response, and allied solidarity are the concrete guarantees of our security," he stated.

Fourth Drone Shot Down This Year

According to Romania's Defence Ministry, this marks the fourth drone shot down by NATO fighter jets over Romanian territory so far this year. In total, more than a hundred drones have entered Romanian airspace during this period, with over fifty of them crashing on Romanian soil. In every case, the drones were subsequently confirmed to be of Russian origin.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz